A study of the planning and thinking that went into the creation of Hitler's "Atlantic Wall," which was intended to prevent the D-Day invasion and throw Allied soldiers back into the sea. The book details how and why the Atlantic Wall failed to perform as Hitler intended.

This is the first English guide to the remains of the Atlantic Wall Hitler built to protect his newly conquered empire from sea invasions.

Refreshingly different perspective on the momentous events of D-Day.

This WWII history and visitor’s guide explores the extensive network of Nazi fortifications built to defend Fortress Europe. Hitler's Atlantic Wall, the complex system of coastal fortifications that stretched from Norway to the Spanish border during the Second World War, was built to defend occupied Europe from Allied invasion. Many of its principal structures survive and can be visited today. This authoritative guide provides both practical information for visitors and essential historical context. The wall, which was constructed on a massive scale between 1942 and 1944 by German engineers, forced laborers and troops, consisted of strong points, artillery casemates, bunkers, troop shelters, minefields, anti-tank and anti-boat obstacles. It also included the concrete U-boat and E-boat pens in the key ports and, behind the Channel coast, the V-weapon sites. This huge scheme of fortifications was one of the longest series of defensive lines in military history. This comprehensive volume takes readers and visitors through the entire story of the fortifications from the fall of France to the D-Day invasion on the beaches of Normandy that finally broke through. As a guide to some of the most impressive relics of the Second World War, this book is essential reading for travelers or anyone interested in the liberation of occupied Europe.

A detailed account of the usefullnes effectiveness and the necissity of the Atlantic Wall to Hitler and Germanys advances in World War II.

During World War II, Adolf Hitler gave the order for a line of defence to be constructed along the coasts of the western front. Ranging from the French-Spanish border to the north of Norway, this Atlantic Wall is a series of bunkers, barricades and coastal batteries. Over the past year, Stephan Vanfleteren photographed this 'wall' of more than 2600 kilometers in his well-known black-and-white style. He planted his tripod on various beaches in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, climbed cliff faces in France, sailed between the fjords of Norway and stood in the surf in Denmark to photograph the ruins of the largest military structure of the previous century. Vanfleteren shows with this series of photos his wonder for the untamed architectural beauty of these concrete structures and he shows the power of nature as it slowly reclaims these structures that were once considered impenetrable.

"How Nazi architects and planners envisioned and began to build a model 'Aryan' society in Norway during World War II"--