Bookshelf

Alumni and faculty members who would like to have their books considered for this listing should contact Stacey Himmelberger, editor of Hamilton magazine. This list, which dates back to 2018, is updated periodically with books appearing alphabetically on the date of entry.

The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy: Resistance, Courage, and Solidarity in a French Village by Stephen G. Rabe ’70

November 18, 2022

Tags Alumni Book

(Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2022).
This book tells the untold stories of ordinary people who did extraordinary things in defense of liberty and freedom. “On D-Day, when transport planes dropped paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions hopelessly off-target into marshy waters in northwestern France, the 900 villagers of Graignes welcomed them with open arms,” notes the publisher. “These villagers — predominantly women — provided food, gathered intelligence, and navigated the floods to retrieve the paratroopers' equipment at great risk to themselves. When the attack by German forces on 11 June forced the overwhelmed paratroopers to withdraw, many made it to safety thanks to the help and resistance of the villagers.” This book is the author/historian’s 13th and is especially close to his heart. His father was one of the D-Day paratroopers.