Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.542142
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 656
Printing Date: June 01, 1995
Publishing house: Simon & Schuster
Sale Popularity Level: 126392
Studio: Simon & Schuster
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Amazon.com:
Published to mark the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, Stephen E. Ambrose's D-Day: June 6, 1944 relies on over 1,400 interviews with veterans, as well as prodigious research in military archives on both sides of the Atlantic. He provides a comprehensive history of the invasion which also eloquently testifies as to how common soldiers performed extraordinary feats. A major theme of the book, upon which Ambrose would later expand in Citizen Soldiers, is how the soldiers from the democratic Allied nations rose to the occasion and outperformed German troops thought to be invincible. The many small stories that Ambrose collected from paratroopers, sailors, infantrymen, and civilians make the excitement, confusion, and sheer terror of D-day come alive on the page. --Robert McNamara
Product Description:
They wanted to be throwing baseballs, not hand grenades, shooting .22s at rabbits, not M-1s at other men. But when the test came, when freedom had to be fought for or abandoned, they fought. They were soldiers of democracy. They were the men of D-Day.
When Hitler declared war on the United States, he bet that the young men brought up in the Hitler Youth would outfight the youngsters brought up in the Boy Scouts. In this magnificent retelling of the war's most climatic battle, acclaimed World War II historian Stephen E. Ambrose tells how wrong Hitler was.
Drawing on hundreds of oral histories as well as never-before-available information from around the world, Ambrose tells the true story of how the Allies broke through Hitler's Atlantic Wall, revealing that the intricate plan for the invasion had to be abandoned before the very first shot was fired. Focusing on the 24 hours of June 6, 1944, D-Day brings to life the stories of the men and women who made history -- from top Allied and Axis strategic commanders to the citizen soldiers whose heroic initiative saved the day.
From high-level politics to hand-to-hand combat, from winner-take-all strategy to survival under fire, here is history more gripping than any thriller -- the epic story of democracy's victory over totalitarianism.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
No detail is omitted from this engrossing account of all the preparation for, and execution of this great battle of World War II.
Rated by buyers -
There is little doubt that the sucess of the D-Day invasion was critical to the Allied efforts to defeat Hitler's Germany. However, the unprecedented scale of this assault is difficult to comprehend. Ambrose does a great job of breaking down the many components of this Herculean effort into a narrative that helps us understand the risks and accomplishments of that day. He describes the decision making, the planning and the training before moving on to his descriptions of the assault itself. He describes each element of the invasion, moving from beach to beach, highlighting the struggles and triumphs of the men who fought and died that day. The narrative is heavily sprinkled with quotes from the men who were there, and show the gruesome horror of combat as well as the surreal and occasionally humorous events of the day. This book is a comprehensive overview of D-Day, and provides an entirely accessible account for anyone who is interested in understanding the events of that momentous day.
Rated by buyers -
I packed this book for a long project assignment overseas. It did not disappoint. If you are looking for an excellent historical narrative, you've found it. It is too bad Stephen Ambrose is dead. All of his stuff earns a five-star review.
This is history by the people who made it. It is also a good training document for anyone teaching young officers and soldiers.
If this review was helpful, please add your vote.
Rated by buyers -
this is the best book on D-Day ever written and also the most detailed, I loved it.
Rated by buyers -
I read WWII books as a hobby and have read many books on the subject of D-Day. I had read Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day and was unsure how Ambrose's book would stand up to that. However, I found Ambrose's book highly readable and quite good. He has a very magic way of telling stories and interjecting the veteran's oral history in with his own story telling. For that reason, I found the book to be quite good, entertaining and informative.
However, there were two items which detracted from the overall objectivity of this book. The very first was Ambrose's constant belittement of the Axis (German) forces. In many pages, he states how great we were; how bad they were; how prepared we were; how unprepared the Germans were; and on and on. If that's the case, why are there 9300+ cemetary markers in the American Cemetary in France?
Secondly, Ambrose devotes only 5 chapters to the British and Canadian forces. And, these chapters were not nearly as long as the space devoted to the Americans. If the title of the book is subtitled as The Climatic Battle of WWII, then he should have devoted MORE space to the British and Canadian efforts than what he did. Or he should have subtitled the book as The Climatic US Battle of WWII.
I think these issues take away from the overall quality and objectivity of the book.
In saying that, the book would be an excellent primer for those not well versed in this battle as he does write well. For others, be aware of Ambrose's US-centric point of view.
Find other books like this one:
