In 1942, with Germany's gradual loss of the strategic initiative to the Allies, Hitler was forced to construct an impenetrable wall of fortifications along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coast. However, Hitler's grandiose Atlantic wall scheme was hampered by the realities of Germany's wartime economy. Without the resources and manpower to fortify the entire coast, the emphasis was placed on the great festung ports, the likely location of an Allied amphibious landing. This first volume in a series of three deals solely with the structures on the French Atlantic coast starting with the Pas de Calais and extending down to Spain. Featuring detailed illustrations and diagrams of the various sections of the Atlantic Wall and the role that they played, it gives an insightful analysis into some of the most accessible fortifications of World War II.

Germany's Atlantic Wall was the most ambitious military fortification program of World War II. Following its conquest of Western Europe, Germany had to defend some 5,000 kilometers of Atlantic coastline from the Spanish border to the Arctic Circle. The United States' entry into the war and the inevitability of an Anglo-American landing in Western Europe resulted in the fortification of this coastline along its entire length. Focusing on the northern Atlantic Wall in the Low Countries and Scandinavia, this title addresses the special defensive features and unique aspects of fortification in these countries, such as the early focus on fortifying Norway, due to early British commando raids; the greater use of turreted naval guns; and the establishment of first-line Flak defenses in the Low Countries to counter the Allied strategic bombing campaign.

Following on from two previous volumes covering the Atlantic Wall, this book completes the story of one of the most formidable defensive lines in Europe in World War II, looking at the lesser known Mediterranean extension and describing how it was conceived of, built and used. After the alarming collapse of Italy in 1943, the Germans launched a crash building program and the 'Sudwall,' (South Wall) sprang up quickly along the French Mediterranean coast and the neighbouring Italian coast around Genoa. The new defences were bolstered by existing French fortifications of key port towns such as Marseilles and Toulon - many of them bristling with heavy artillery. Whilst describing the wall's physical design features, this book also recounts the defences' role in the Allied invasion of Southern France; Operation Dragoon - 'The Second D-Day'. As the Germans' worst fears became a reality, the southern Atlantic Wall would face its ultimate test.