Reviews

D-Day by Jesse Boggs, Stephen E. Ambrose

suebrownreads's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this book. I learned so much. I am giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because it could be a little difficult to follow at times and slightly tedious at times. There are a lot of acronyms (some of which are defined at the back of the book), and military terms. Anyone affiliated with the military would probably not have any difficulty at all. But it is not a hard book to read. It is written well and very straight forward. It is extremely detailed and may be more information than the average person may want to know, but I enjoyed learning the names and interesting stories of many, many of those who gave themselves over to this campaign. I have always considered WWII the most important war of modern times, and that is why I have a strong penchant for reading books about it, and learning all I can. I always find the times during which those folks lived fascinating. The first half of our century was a "different time", and one worth knowing. Lastly, I would like to say how much I appreciate the patriotism, dedication and selflessness of those men (and women) who fight for our country. Then and now, they often pay the ultimate sacrifice. I can't even imagine the fear that I would have, and I just can't see myself doing such courageous things. If I had been born during those times, would I feel differently? I guess we don't know what each of us would do until we are faced with such a thing as Hitler.

mtalbot03's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

5.0

spaceman5000's review against another edition

As much as I am interested in history I have an impossible time getting through history books.....

I am looking for an overall sweeping view of what happened and why it happened, but it seems like many books get mired in the details of divisions, troop numbers and vehicle acronyms. It's all just gobbledygook after a while and I'm not left with a sense of what actually happened.

I'm not faulting the author as those things are important to most history buffs - just not for me. Maybe I just need to watch more documentaries on the history topics I'm interested in?

iceberg0's review against another edition

4.0

Very well written narrative of Operation Overlord. Ambrose makes it clear, interesting and relatable. I listened to this book and it unfortunately was an abridgement.

publius's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

brendanb11's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

soundracer's review against another edition

5.0

Seventeen years after it was first published, it's hard to conceive that there could be a better book about D-Day. Stephen Ambrose skillfully combines the "macro" and the "micro" into a narrative that moves fast enough to cover the entire scope of the battle without bogging down. And that scope includes the preparation as well as the assault on June 6.

Ambrose opens with a description of the strategic situation in 1944, and then proceeds with chapters devoted to organization, planning, training, and preparations. The book is organized into chapters, each of which deals with a specific aspect of the battle. Each of the five beach assaults is given one (or several) chapters, as are the paratroopers, naval and air forces. This divides the book into several shorter, but intense, narratives.

But most of the intensity comes from the numerous eyewitness accounts that Ambrose sprinkles liberally throughout. These oral histories add grit and realism to the descriptions of the action. Ambrose never lingers too long with these accounts -- they are well-edited and make their contribution quickly.

The cumulative effect of these first person accounts is to increase the reader's appreciation for the immensity of what was accomplished. Not just by armies, but by individuals. You'll want to seek out a D-Day veteran -- and thank them.

iamjudgedredd's review against another edition

4.0

somewhere more like 3.5 stars. I liked the book, it had some gripping first hand accounts, and details about the more overlooked aspects of the invasion. But is also riddled with seemingly amateurish opinions and contradictions when he steps outside of his own area of expertise.

All in all a very readable account for the American audience (it's heavily skewed to the US beaches, as one might expect).

tstreet's review against another edition

5.0

I felt that this book was very intense and Stephen was able to illustrate his point very well. I enjoyed reading this and imagining what these men were going through. I would definitely suggest this book if you love history.

lindseysparks's review against another edition

4.0

I love history but don't typically like military history. I tend to be much more interested in the homefront or soldiers' stories than battle details. Ambrose (who wrote Band of Brothers) excels at telling stories while also providing a military history. This is all about D-Day, and after visiting Omaha Beach and Point du Hoc I wanted more detail about the day. This covered all the details of how it happened, interspersed with stories that brought it to life. It's completely insane. We're lucky that many of the Allied soldiers in Normandy weren't actually Nazis - many of them were conscripted Poles, Czechs and other non-Germans who didn't really want to fight. Seeing the cliffs makes me wonder how they managed to climb them. It's crazy.