Clash of Wills: The Naval Odyssey of Professor James Brand

The landings along the Normandy coast were successful, but by the first of July, the Allies were locked in fierce battles with the Germans. Defending every inch of the French countryside, the enemy slowed the British advance near Caen and the Americans in the hedgerows of northwestern France. All along the beaches of Normandy, reinforcements and supplies landed daily because the plan to use the liberated but heavily damaged port of Cherbourg would take longer than anticipated. In the Marianas, desperate fighting continued on the island of Saipan, while the invasions of Guam and Tinian were about to begin. Added to these raging battles, political disagreements emerged about the next phase of the war. In the European theater, Churchill opposed the plan to invade the south of France, while in the Pacific, President Roosevelt faced conflicting plans from his senior commanders on how to end the war with Japan. The next steps on the road to victory would require a Clash of Wills. Read more