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Randolph Bradham
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To the Last Man: The Battle for Normandy's Cotentin Peninsula and Brittany Kindle Edition

by Randolph Bradham (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
“Surely one of the best works in regard to the Normandy invasion . . . truly a vital contribution to World War II literature.” —Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard

Through thoughtfully constructed research, Bradham vividly presents the battle for Normandy’s Cotentin Peninsula—one of the most important and yet understudied operations of World War II.

This book provides a detailed overview of the battles that make up the Cotentin Peninsula Campaign, an important part of the invasion of Normandy. While historians often cite specific examples of the fighting that took place on the peninsula, most treat the battles as individual events or singular parts of the overall Normandy campaign. In this work Bradham takes a different approach, focusing on the unique set of battles that had to be fought in order for the Allies to secure their foothold on Normandy.

Bradham not only discusses the strategy used to secure the peninsula, but also gives detailed accounts of the major battles and tactical doctrine that was developed to fight them. Along the way he provides biographical information on the main actors, explaining how key personality traits along with personal relationships influenced their conduct while in battle. In doing so, the author outlines the effect of the campaign on the overall conduct of the war.
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  1. Print length
    340 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Pen & Sword Military
  4. Publication date
    July 16, 2012
  5. File size
    12.5 MB
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  7. Word Wise
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Editorial Reviews

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“To the Last Man! The Battle for Normandy's Contentin Peninsula and Brittany is surely one of the best works in regard to the Normandy invasion. The research is exhaustive with brilliant writing and research by a veteran of that campaign. This is truly a vital contribution to World War II literature.” ―Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard

About the Author

Randolph Bradham is a retired thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon. Formerly a staff-sergeant squad leader, he fought against the Germans in Brittany during the Second World War. He is the author of Hitler's U-Boat Fortresses (Praeger, 2003).

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00K1KIY8Y
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pen & Sword Military; Illustrated edition (July 16, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 16, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 12.5 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 340 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

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Randolph Bradham

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4.1 out of 5 stars
17 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Brett L.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of little bit of great information
    Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    On the whole this is a very good book While it starts with D-Day, the focus is mainly on the battle for the Cotentin Peninsula and the battles in Brittany. There are few personal stories, although at times spotlights are provided on certain individuals in their own highlighted section. The author thankfully puts in parenthesis the parent division of whatever regiment he is referring to.

    At times the history is nonlinear, in that he will refer to what happened to what unit on a certain day, and then, going to a different unit, describe what it did on the same day. At times that was confusing till I got the gist of it and it made the fog of war more real. There were just a lot of little tidbits about the battle in Brittany I did not know about. Most books tend to focus on th the breakout and drive to the Seine - this tells the story of those who moved west instead of east.
    One person found this helpful
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  • IndianaHappyTraveler
    5.0 out of 5 stars When Hitler said ‘no retreat, no surrender, you must fight to the last man’.
    Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2023
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    Dr. Bradham has rendered students AND teachers a great service in giving this thorough study of the battle to take the Cotentin Penisula of Normandy, and Brittany. This was a long and ferocious battle, the details of which I had not previously read. At times, it was necessary to break off reading, to allow emotions to calm. The strategic views and brief biographies of the different commanders/generals on B0TH sides of the war, also gave depth to my understanding of that period and battleground.
    I agree with another reviewer, who noted that the book would have benefited from some editing of repetitious phrases that ended up being irritating by the end of the book. However, after having read the book and reflected upon what I have learned, I recommend this book to those wanting an in-depth look at what happened in Normandy after D-Day.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Jimmie Benbrook
    4.0 out of 5 stars Shedding Light on a Forgotten WWII Campaign
    Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2012
    In the early 1960s, I enlisted in the U.S. Army and within a few months was sent overseas to a place called St. Nazaire, France. I arrived in St. Nazaire by train and upon detraining was struck to see the bombed-out ruins of the old train station adjacent to the new building. Knowing absolutely nothing about the town's history I was then fascinated to discover that our military workplace was located right on St. Nazaire's harbor and within a stone's throw of a gigantic submarine base that had been constructed by the Germans during WWII. The amount of concrete used to construct this fortress must have been truly amazing and it proved to be impenetrable to massive allied bombing. I frequently wondered what happened in St. Nazaire during WWII but the old train station and submarine pens were not giving up their secrets. Years later, when I had time to research WWII history, I found that very little information could be found on what came to be known as the Brittany Campaign (St. Nazaire is in Brittany). Randolph Bradham's To the Last Man: The Battle for Normandy's Cotentin Peninsula and Brittany has shed much light on this subject for me.

    Randolph Bradham is a retired surgeon who is also an enlisted veteran of the 66th Infantry Division that fought in Brittany, which gives him, therefore, first-hand knowledge of what may have happened in St. Nazaire. He first describes many of the Cotentin Peninsula battles that occurred after D-Day, which are themselves often overlooked. The fights for the Normandy port of Cherbourg and the Brittany ports of St. Malo and Brest were vicious affairs but are forgotten in favor of more popularly-known battles. Operation Cobra led to the breakout from Normandy needed to pursue the German Army across France, but before this happened, some of the armored Generals, including George S. Patton (3rd Army), John S. Wood (4th Armored Division), and Robert W. Grow (6th Armored Division), all participated in the Brittany Campaign, albiet reluctantly. They all felt that their armored commands should be used to drive the Germans back into Germany and that containment of the Brittany ports should be left to the infantry and artillery. This ultimately turned out to be the approach used by General Omar Bradley. Among the infantry divisions to participate in the Brittany Campaign were the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 29th, 66th, 83rd, and 94th.

    As for St. Nazaire, it was heavily bombed by the British and Americans, which led to thousands of French civilian casualties and destruction of the town, but the primary target of the submarine pens was basically left undamaged. This is what I personally witnessed in the 60s with the ruins of the train station and intact submarine base. After the costly battles for St. Malo and Brest it was determined to contain the ports of Lorient and St. Nazaire, first with the 94th Infantry Division, then with the 66th Infantry Division. These American divisions were also reinforced with thousands of Free French of the Interior (FFI) volunteers who were trained and under the overall command of the Americans.

    I do have some gripes about the quality of editing. Bradham has a tendency to be repetitive, often repeating the same phrase, sometimes within the same sentence. There were also numerous spelling and grammatical errors ("Breast" for "Brest," "sight" for "site," etc.), but all-in-all, my curiosity about St. Nazaire in WWII has been essentially satisfied.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Daniel M.
    5.0 out of 5 stars I highly recommend TO THE LAST MAN as well as Bradham's HITLER'S ...
    Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2015
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    Randolph Bradham's book entitled TO THE LAST MAN is well written and presents to the reader a detailed overview of critical battles fought in the Cotentin Peninsular Campaign, an important part of the Invasion of Normandy. I highly recommend TO THE LAST MAN as well as Bradham's HITLER'S U-BOAT FORTRESSES. Both books are based upon Bradham's first hand experiences as a staff-sergeant squad leader when he fought against the Germans in Brittany, France, during the Second World War.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Joe Z
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful firsthand account
    Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2015
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    Disclaimer, I know Dr. Bradham, but I never knew he wrote. This is a fascinating, first person account of the invasion from a guy who was there, not some historian/academic. Riveting!
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly narrative of part of WW II that had been ...
    Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2017
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    Scholarly narrative of part of WW II that had been undocumented. Written by one of the soldiers who was there.
    One person found this helpful
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  • HMB
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2017
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    Riveting account by a WWII veteran!
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