The Atlantic Wall (1): France

By Steven Zaloga

In 1942, with Germany's gradual loss of the strategic initiative to the Allies, Hitler was forced to construct an impenetrable wall of fortifications along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coast. However, Hitler's grandiose Atlantic wall scheme was hampered by the realities of Germany's wartime economy. Without the resources and manpower to fortify the entire coast, the emphasis was placed on the great festung ports, the likely location of an Allied amphibious landing.

This first volume in a series of three deals solely with the structures on the French Atlantic coast starting with the Pas de Calais and extending down to Spain. Featuring detailed illustrations and diagrams of the various sections of the Atlantic Wall and the role that they played, it gives an insightful analysis into some of the most accessible fortifications of World War II.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781782007074

Reviews for The Atlantic Wall (1)

[shrike58 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Again more Osprey at its best, as Zaloga examines the ins and outs of how the "West Wall" came to be as a result of being another of Hitler's mad enthusiasms, how the German military leadership could find no serious way to make these installations fit into their doctrine, and how a pointedly inadequate system still managed to be yet another drain on the German war-time economy. That more concrete went into these installations than into the Maginot Line is astonishing.