Historian Masterclass 2023: The Breakout

Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours historians of all WWII specialties will be gathering in France for the 2023 Historian Masterclass in April 2023. This year, the Masterclass will explore the Breakout at Normandy, code name Operation Cobra, the Allied plan to take Brittany and trap the remaining German army in Normandy.

By the evening of D-Day, more than 150,000 Allied troops had landed on the coast of France and had breached Adolf Hitler’s once impregnable “Atlantic Wall.” The war, however, was a long way from over. For the next 80-days the world fixated its eyes on the battles raging in Normandy. After almost five years of war, the Allies were poised to decide the fate of Adolf Hitler’s vaunted “1,000 Year Reich.”

On the 2023 Historians Masterclass, four historians will take guests from the D-Day beaches to the inland campaigns in the heart of Normandy. We will follow in the bootsteps of the American, British and Canadian armies where they fought for Caen and Cherbourg; stand with the GIs of the 30th Infantry Division where they stopped the last great German offensive in Normandy in its tracks; and see where Free Polish forces closed the German’s last avenue of escape at Falaise. We will then travel to Paris, following the path of the Allies as they raced to liberate the city.

Expect a boots-on-the-ground experience as historians share knowledge and collaborate with each other.

Guests will fly round trip through Paris. The four historians who will lecture throughout the tour will be announced soon. We will limit the guest count to about 25. The cost of this tour will reflect both the low guest count and the number of historians in attendance.

Tour Highlights

Historians