Book reference requested.

Some time ago I heard of a book whose general topic was the German victory in France against the Allies in 1940. This specific book may be somewhat different than the many books written on this topic: As I remember, the author of this book claimed that the role of the German infantry was much more important in the victory than is usually credited.

I regret that I have lost the reference to this book (author, title, etc.). I believe it was written in English. I ask for help in identifying this book. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Ralph.

Ralph a =E9crit:

This is not 'somewhat different'. Everybody knows that it was German=20 infantry, not armor, that made the decisive Sedan breakthrough. This may=20 not be as clearly stated in older books, of course.

Book suggestions that might fit.

1. 'Sedan: the Breaking Point' by Doughty. Excellent tactical analysis=20 of only a portion of the fighting, i.e. the Sedan battle. Comparison of=20 German & French doctrines. Lots of accounts of the infantry fighting.

2. 'The Fall of France' by Julian Jackson. An excellent recent (2003)=20 overview. I mention it because it's up to date and therefore you might=20 have heard of it 'some time ago', so presumably it would include that=20 information although it's not 100% a military history. In my opinion,=20 that one is the best single volume source available in English on that=20 campaign.

3. 'France 1940' (or some such title) by Philip Warner. Also a recent=20 book, it's a paperback which you will probably find in more bookstores=20 than you will the above entry. It's a middle-of-the-road fairly recent=20 overview of the topic, and without checking I'm pretty sure that it=20 mentions German infantry.

4. 'Blitzkrieg Legende' (in German) or 'Le Mythe de La Guerre Eclair'=20 (in French) by Karl-Heiz Frieser. The campaign from the German point of=20 view, including an analysis of German doctrine showing that the Germans=20 did not plan to wage a 'blitzkrieg' but were in fact planning on an=20 infantry battle, sort of a faster-paced version of the French doctrine.=20 A very interesting book, although I don't know if it is available in=20 English.