The Miracle of Normandy

6th June 2014 will be the 70th Anniversary of D-Day, which marked the start of the Battle for Normandy – which in turn led to the liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe and the defeat of Germany a year later. Although it is usually seen as an unqualified success, the Battle for Normandy was actually a much more closely fought affair. In The Miracle of Normandy the author and journalist Alex Gerlis explores whether it would have been won at all without the Allied deception operation. It was not until the 1970s that details began to emerge the Allies’ top secret and audacious deception plan. Operation Fortitude succeeded in confusing the Germans about where the Allies were going to land: would it be Normandy, or the Pas de Calais?
The Miracle of Normandy looks at the part the deception played in the eventual Allied victory and asks to what extent it may have been helped by those in the German High Command and intelligence organisations who by 1944 wanted to see a swift end to the war.
Alex Gerlis was born in Grimsby, Lincolnshire and now lives with his family in West London. He was a BBC journalist for over 25 years, leaving in 2011 to concentrate on his writing. He is the author of The Best of Our Spies, a highly acclaimed espionage thriller based on D-Day and especially the deception operation that played a big part in its success. The Best of Our Spies was published in December 2012, since when it has featured prominently in the Amazon Kindle Spy best-selling lists and has over 180 Amazon reviews.