Back into Focus: The Real Story of Robert Capa's D-Day

“Analysis of Capa’s photos is provided on an in-depth level, with some photos being picked apart piece by piece. This level of analysis shows Herrick to be both a skilled historian and a photographic analyst… well written, concise, and does an excellent job of sorting fact from fantasy.” ― The Journal of America's Military PastAlthough Capa's Falling Soldier image from the Spanish Civil War has been definitively proven to be a staged propaganda fake, no one has applied a similarly critical eye to his later work. This book is the first effort to establish the facts behind the fables surrounding his D-Day adventures and the images he produced during that period. This book examines the fictionalized account Robert Capa penned in his pseudo biography Slightly Out of Focus. Written in the hopes of it becoming a movie, Capa included many elements which were exaggerated or simply not true, while omitting many relevant events. As he himself said in the dust jacket for that book: “Writing the truth being obviously so difficult, I have in the interests of it allowed myself to go sometimes slightly beyond and slightly this side of it. All events and persons in the book are accidental and have something to do with the truth.” This new account carefully details the actual events surrounding Capa's D-Day adventures, using official SHAEF files, still and motion picture images taken by other cameramen who were near or with Capa, and a variety of accounts of witnesses. It examines several aspects of Capa's narrative and reveals the truth behind the fiction: he claimed that he landed in the First Wave with Company E, in reality he landed almost two hours later in Wave 13 with the regimental commander. Analysis reveals how many of his images were presented in a false context and as a result have been misinterpreted for decades. Building on Allan Colleman and his team's proof that the bulk of Capa D-Day photos could not possibly have been ruined in a darkroom accident, this gripping expose details the effects the FORTITUDE deception plans had on censorship, and how the censorship system would have retained the images popularly thought to have been lost.Table of ContentsIntroduction Part One: To The Normandy Coast Chapter 1. A Change of Scenery Chapter 2. Pressing Matters Chapter 3. The Channel CrossingChapter 4. D-Day, The PlanChapter 5. Capa and the ‘First Wave with Company E’ MythChapter 6. A Second Look at the First WaveChapter 7. D-Day, The RealityChapter 8. The Lousy Civilian IdeaPart Two: Ramps Down Chapter 9. Where, Exactly? Chapter 10. When, Exactly? Chapter 11. Easy Red at 0830 Hours Chapter 12. One Hundred Forty Minutes in an LCVP Chapter 13. Capa On The Beach – In His Own Contradictory Words Chapter 14. The Debarkation Set Chapter 15. The Engineer Set Chapter 16. The Face in the SurfChapter 17. The Obstacle Forest Set Part Three: Beat Feet To The FleetChapter 18. Day Tripper? Chapter 19. FlightChapter 20. Early BoardingChapter 21. Chase, AgainChapter 22. Camera ConfusionChapter 23. Return To The Near Shore Chapter 24. Film Follies Read more