Breakout and Pursuit : U.S. Army Center of Military History, "U.S. Army in World War II: The European Theater of Operations"

Breakout and Pursuit covers the 'Battle of the Hedgerows' leading to Operation Cobra and victory in Normandy. the Falaise-Argentan pocket and the Mortain counterattack are also included, as are operations in Brittany, the reduction of Brest, and the liberation of Paris. The volume closes with the pursuit across northern France and Belgium by the U.S. First and Third Armies, ending in early September 1944 at the German frontier and the gates of Lorraine. The battle narrative in the volume is, in general, pitched at corps, level, but the focus of attention moves up and down the chain of command to illuminate decisions, both Allied and German, at critical moments of the campaign. The action is carefully related to the declared or postulated intentions of the responsible commanders, and success or failure is examined with reference to these and the opposing moves of the contestants. As in Cross-Channel Attack, the access of the author to abundant enemy sources has made it possible for him to represent fully the strength, intentions, and tactics of the Axis.