Andersen-Bö, 4th Infantry Division

Juin 1940 - Aout 1944

After more than ten years of research, the analysis of thousands of documents, and tens of thousands of miles of travel across the United States, Great Britain, and France, French specialist Jérémy Andersen-Bö presents the history of the Ivy Division in World War II in a definitive work. From the beaches of Normandy to the liberation of Paris, through the battles in hedgerows and towns like Montebourg, Cherbourg, and Saintenythe U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division has been a celebrated unit since 1917, yet its epic history has been largely forgotten. Its role in the Normandy landings is relatively well-known. However, its successes and battles during the Battle of Normandy remain largely unknown. The men fought almost relentlessly throughout the summer of 1944, suffering devastating losses that defy imagination. Legendary names like Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and Raymond O. Barton are among the unit's icons. But the anonymous stories of the young men who served in its ranks have remained shrouded in darkness all these years. This 416-page book, richly illustrated with over 500 photographs, including 200 previously unpublished ones, more than 270 artifacts and a variety of maps, guides the reader through the chronology of the division's reactivation in June 1940 at Fort Benning to the liberation of East Paris at the end of August 1944, thanks to contributions from American families, private collectors and museums.