Benjamin F. Jones

Benjamin F. Jones wrote a miraculous book about the country of France during WWII, and what it took to liberate it from German occupation. If we had to depend on Churchill and F. D. R. to win the war, from reading this book, I would seriously doubt the Allies would have. These two "Gentlemen" (the good ole' boys club) were too concerned with making America the next occupier of France, and making Eisenhower it's governor. France was having none of that. In the meantime, General Eisenhower was trying to work with the French to liberate their own country. He tried to get young de Gaulle (the leader of the Free French) to work with him to get the backing of the French people.

There are basically two halves to the liberation movement. During Normandy and around D-Day, the Free French volunteers were basically front and center for the fighting. Even though Churchill and Roosevelt did not want them knowing any plans before they happened. There were thousands of would be volunteers. This was to be considered the success story. They were basically used to sabotage the Germans, cut communication ties, and blow up bridges and railways, not get directly involved in the fighting. Then you have the team's who were set in place to do their duties as the Germans retreated back into Germany. This is what I found so fascinating. None of these teams received supplies for months. They did not have proper communication, as some radios were destroyed and others captured with radio operators by the Germans. The teams did not have proper weapons, ammunition, and other basic supplies to defend themselves. London blamed it on weather conditions, moon phases (where it couldn't be bright enough for planes going over the drop off sites to be seen at night) or knowledge of where German anti-aircraft weapons may be, among others. Some team leaders were captured, killed, or sent to prison camps in Germany. Mr. Jones tried to inform us if the guerrilla warfare tactics worked in France and why or why not. I was not a student of WWIi battles, etc. before I read this book. However, this book read like a novel after chapter six. Eisenhower did what no other even tried to do: work directly with the French people for the good of their nation. I was extremely impressed by that. It was no wonder the French did not like Americans for so long after the war. But, Eisenhower saved the day where Churchill and Roosevelt did not. This is a book for everyone who wants to learn about public relations.

Thank you Oxford University Press and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book to read and give my honest review.… (mehr)