Today marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the largest seaborne invasion in history. A fascinating new book brings together images from the heroic landings and subsequent battles, including portraits and street images as well as dramatic shots of the actual landings
Not only was D-Day a momentous event in history, it happened at a time when newspapers and magazines could publish images from the war relatively quickly, something that had been much more difficult during World War 1. Some big names were there recording the action, principally Robert Capa, the only photographer to be present at the first wave of landings at Omaha beach.
As well as big names, a lot of unsung press, allied army and civilian photographers took some amazing images, showing great heroism and presence of mind in the midst of the carnage and chaos.
Consequently, we now have an extensive archive of images from D-Day. Lots of commemorative books have been published already, but there’s a superb new addition to the library – D-Day 80 Years, published by Zoom Archives.
Celebrating all the D-Day photographers
This Italian publisher’s book covers much more than D-Day, providing lots of useful historical context and going right up to the Nazi surrender the following year, but it’s the photos that make the biggest impression on readers. Many of the images are rarely seen outside of their respective collections in the US and elsewhere.
‘Many of the images used within this book were produced by artists, often unknown, who were enlisted in their ranks and are today preserved by the U.S. National Archives,’ Zoom Archives explains in the book’s introduction. ‘Some of the images are accessible through Wikipedia Commons thanks to a cooperative agreement with the U.S. National Archives.’
Other sources include the US Signal Corps Archive, which has been digitising World War II images taken by Signal Corps photographers since 2020, the U.S. National Archives, the French association Photos Normandie and many more. Images by some world-famous photographers are featured, including Lee Miller and Edward Steichen.
D-Day 80 Years is an essential addition to any photo book collection, as well as timely reminder of the heroism and humanity of those involved in D-Day, either directly or indirectly.
Readers can get a 20% discount, using the code ZOOM-D-DAY. The book is available from here and also the main home page of the publisher’s site.
D-Day gallery
