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Case White
- The Invasion of Poland 1939
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Categories: History, Europe
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Even after the legendary evacuation from Dunkirk in June 1940 there were still large British formations fighting the Germans alongside their French allies. After mounting a vigorous counterattack at Abbeville and then engaging a tough defense along the Somme, the British were forced to conduct a second evacuation from the ports of Le Havre, Cherbourg, Brest, and St. Nazaire. Case Red captures the drama of the final three weeks of military operations in France in June 1940.
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Summary
The German invasion of Poland on 1 September, 1939, designated as Fall Weiss (Case White), was the event that sparked the outbreak of World War II in Europe. The campaign has widely been described as a textbook example of Blitzkrieg, but it was actually a fairly conventional campaign as the Wehrmacht was still learning how to use its new Panzers and dive-bombers.
The Polish military is often misrepresented as hopelessly obsolete and outclassed by the Wehrmacht, yet in fact it was well-equipped with modern weapons and armor. Indeed, the Polish possessed more tanks than the British and had cracked the German Enigma machine cipher. Though the combined assault from Germany and the Soviet Union defeated Poland, it could not crush the Polish fighting spirit and thousands of soldiers and airmen escaped to fight on other fronts. The result of Case White was a brutal occupation, as Polish Slavs found themselves marginalized and later eliminated, paving the way for Hitler's vision of Lebensraum (living space) and his later betrayal and invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
Using a wide array of sources, Robert Forczyk challenges the myths of Case White to tell the full story of the invasion that sparked history's greatest conflict.
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What listeners say about Case White
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- mcfontaine
- 10-07-20
I’d hoped for more ...
I was really looking forward to this book because of its telling of the story from the Polish side. Unfortunately, even though there was a disclaimer that it wouldn’t be biased, there were some howlers in it. Everything up till September 1st 1939 is brilliantly told in great detail and then, for me, this book completely collapsed. It’s because of the narration constantly giving multiple translations of unit names and numbers. It completely destroys the flow of the book and turns it into what seems to just be a long list. It was distracting and made retaining information really difficult.
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 01-07-20
Eye opening
Eye opening and informative. An excellent book, it is informative and well paced and doesn't get bogged down in detail.Well worth a listen.
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- Goronwy-Wyn
- 19-06-20
An Excellent review of a sad period.
The reasons why so many war criminals escaped punishment still leaves me perplexed. It's high time the list of Nazi and other war criminals was publicly reviewed.
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- Tim Hookham
- 25-01-20
Rather drawn out
This book is well spoken but unfortunately it goes into searingly tedious detail which soon loses the readers attention.....
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- jacob
- 12-06-20
finally! a book detailing the Polish campaign
I've read nearly 300 books on WW2, and have been craving for more blow by blow details on the Polish campaign. Case White checked all the boxes. It is a must read for all WW2 enthusiast. kudos to the narrator for doing a fantastic job
2 people found this helpful
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- T. Marvin
- 20-02-20
A suitable tribute.
The invasion of Poland is such a footnote moment in WWII histories, as if it were a simple maneuver and the antiquated Poles charged on horses to their demise. The details here were unsparing and lucid, a great combination of details and narrative. Mr Vance is a master of pronunciation which makes following the characters and places remarkably easy. The USSR’s actions rarely get any ink, but this is a refreshing change, if one can use that term. At this stage the soviets were essentially an evil axis power. Their actions easily competed with the Nazis in atrocities, and it is more than a little disturbing to see the complicity and craven actions of France and England laid bare. This was an amazingly informative and engaging listen, and required “read” to fully understand the more publicized events that followed. Highly recommended.
2 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 24-11-19
Surprise
Probably more than one need to know, but the Poles never get the respect they should get for having existed between Germany and Russia. Faced with destruction from both sides, after 70 years Poland has maintained a cultural spirit to be proud of. This book shows a remarkable amount of fighting by Polish forces faced with the Death Camps or the Gulag if captured by either side.
11 people found this helpful
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- Jeff Wise
- 27-12-20
Excellent comprehensive research
Not only does it dispel many of the myths associated with the German invasion of Poland, it is a great summary of Polish history. Well researched and written.
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- J.Brock
- 27-09-20
Brilliant Expose..Cannot Recommend Enough
This is a stunning, brilliant work. Poland never gets much credit for putting up a spectacular fight against a vicious invasion by Germany on one front, and also an invasion by Russia on the other. It's truly the most harrowing tale. And Forczyk sets the record straight on several things, the first thing being the Poles were alone in defending themselves. Nobody was coming for them, and they knew it. Germany completely ignored the Versailles treaty and Russia received arms from anyone who would take their gold. And the Western powers didn't want to upset their new ally Russia. It's a twisted tale and countries like Poland paid the ultimate price. History has continually glossed over the Blitzkrieg as a complete German route. Thank you Robert Forczyk for exposing the lies with a narrative that reads like a thriller. And Simon Vance is at his best. He's always spectacular, but he truly brings the reader into the heart of the action. Cannot recommend this book enough.
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- Dennis
- 20-09-20
Reader's pronunciation made me crazy
This is an excellent, detailed and, apparently, meticulously researched work. The narrator has good voice and reads well. It would have enhanced the performance if he had someone to teach him proper pronunciation of Polish names and words. As a Polish speaker, I found myself occasionally correcting out loud his mispronunciations. In most cases, I could still understand the word or name, but in other instances I was unable to quite make out the name of a person or place, leading to uncertainty to what he was referring. I certainly understand that Polish can be confusing and intimidating to pronounce. The narrator made a noble effort. He could have used some coaching.
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- Alex Ilko
- 11-08-20
Detailed but dry and impersonal
The book is incredibly detailed and thorough but impersonal. It doesn’t so much tell the stories of those who fought but the larger picture of what lead up to the 1939 invasion, and the circumstances and situations that Europe and Poland we in leading up to and during the conflict. That being said, it does not tell personal stories. It has some short stories of bravery and despicable violence and who was involved but the book reads more like an after action report or a historical academic analysis. There is quite a lot of thorough detail which greatly helps understand a deeper picture but it can be very boring after at times. I thought I was strange that when discussing the atrocities carried out at the end of the book, that the author didn’t mention the holocaust or the 1 to 2 million Jews shot to death by the Germans in Poland. Some of the camps were mentioned in the book while they were still for holding people and not extermination. The author focuses on the POWs killed and civilian deaths outside of the focused killing of polish Jews.
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- S.C. James
- 17-06-20
Quite technical, but worth the listen.
While this book wasn't as good as "Where the Iron Crosses Grow," I still really like this book and appreciate the fine level of detail. I always learn a lot from Forczyk's books. He is incredibly thorough and paints a precise picture of events. For example, I had no idea how much warning and pleading Churchill gave to France to send their navy to Britain or the US to prevent it from falling into Nazi hands. If you like technical analyses of WWII battles and history, then this is the book for you.