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bookaneer's review against another edition
5.0
My first comment in Goodreads about this book is: "an orgasmic experience". Haha, I know some people will be intrigued by such clause (and I did receive one comment). Anyway, I did mean it. This book is orgasmic. Seriously.
For those who’ve seen the movie, better erase it from your memory. This kind of book can not be shortened into a three-hour movie, it has to become a series. And maybe have to be directed by someone like Steven Spielberg, LOL. It is not only about D-Day, but also about the background stories of that blessed day. Using more than 1,000 sources for this book – former US, British, Allied Forces soldiers, inhabitants of Normandy, even lots of former Nazi officers – Cornelius has successfully blended all their stories (even if it is only a scrap of details) into a masterpiece.
My head shook with disbelief a number of times when reading this book. How could the Third Reich become so dim-witted? Bear in mind that D-Day operation, better known as Operation Overlord, had so many flaws in it, from the planning to the execution, which made it bound to fail. For example, intelligence report that killed hundreds of US Rangers to destroy a battery of guns which never existed. However, the Wehrmacht seemed to create better mess. Hence, they went into almost complete disarray.
Imagine this: the only division stationed in Normandy (Seventh Army) was the last division that was notified of an ongoing invasion. Imagine this: there was only one Luftwaffe’s offensive and one E-boat attack during D-Day. Imagine this: there was a ready-to-fight panzer division who were forced to sit down watching helplessly the Allied Forces swarmed into Normandy just because Hitler's staff decided not to notify the Fuhrer and let him sleep in the make-believe beautiful world of Berchtesgaden until afternoon, while D-Day was started since midnight and H-Hour 6.30 AM. Furthermore, the exalted, legendary Field Marshall Rommel, who knew from day one that Normandy was not invincible, seemed to be forgotten in the frenzy; nobody told him about the landings before it was too late. A combination of red tape, ignorance and cockiness ruined the Krauts, for sure.
My favorite part of the book is "The Night" chapter. Well, I just love WW II paratroopers’ stories and this time it’s not only the 101st Airborne Division that was described, but also the more battle-tested 82nd, as well as the British 6th division. One could not compare the atrocities and horrors experience by the paratroopers and the sea-borne soldiers. However, if I could choose, I definitely do not want to be one of those soldiers who landed in the ‘Omaha’ beach. No way in hell.
The tales about bravado showed by the soldiers, paratroopers, sailors, medics, minesweepers, etc in this book were exceptional, spiced up with occasional humors. Fallacies from both sides seemed to create a number of hilarious events, such as when a small unit of Allied soldiers came across a German unit in a French rural road, both units only stared and passed each other and did nothing (!) because they were just too shocked over the presence of each other . Well, I guess it should be too hard from the author to have so many materials, since this is a military event that involved more than 5,000 ships, hundreds of airplanes/bombers/gliders/etc and hundreds of thousands of men with various nationalities.
A day when all might and force of the free world came to liberate the occupied continent from a malevolence that the world had never seen before. A day to remember.
For those who’ve seen the movie, better erase it from your memory. This kind of book can not be shortened into a three-hour movie, it has to become a series. And maybe have to be directed by someone like Steven Spielberg, LOL. It is not only about D-Day, but also about the background stories of that blessed day. Using more than 1,000 sources for this book – former US, British, Allied Forces soldiers, inhabitants of Normandy, even lots of former Nazi officers – Cornelius has successfully blended all their stories (even if it is only a scrap of details) into a masterpiece.
My head shook with disbelief a number of times when reading this book. How could the Third Reich become so dim-witted? Bear in mind that D-Day operation, better known as Operation Overlord, had so many flaws in it, from the planning to the execution, which made it bound to fail. For example, intelligence report that killed hundreds of US Rangers to destroy a battery of guns which never existed. However, the Wehrmacht seemed to create better mess. Hence, they went into almost complete disarray.
Imagine this: the only division stationed in Normandy (Seventh Army) was the last division that was notified of an ongoing invasion. Imagine this: there was only one Luftwaffe’s offensive and one E-boat attack during D-Day. Imagine this: there was a ready-to-fight panzer division who were forced to sit down watching helplessly the Allied Forces swarmed into Normandy just because Hitler's staff decided not to notify the Fuhrer and let him sleep in the make-believe beautiful world of Berchtesgaden until afternoon, while D-Day was started since midnight and H-Hour 6.30 AM. Furthermore, the exalted, legendary Field Marshall Rommel, who knew from day one that Normandy was not invincible, seemed to be forgotten in the frenzy; nobody told him about the landings before it was too late. A combination of red tape, ignorance and cockiness ruined the Krauts, for sure.
My favorite part of the book is "The Night" chapter. Well, I just love WW II paratroopers’ stories and this time it’s not only the 101st Airborne Division that was described, but also the more battle-tested 82nd, as well as the British 6th division. One could not compare the atrocities and horrors experience by the paratroopers and the sea-borne soldiers. However, if I could choose, I definitely do not want to be one of those soldiers who landed in the ‘Omaha’ beach. No way in hell.
The tales about bravado showed by the soldiers, paratroopers, sailors, medics, minesweepers, etc in this book were exceptional, spiced up with occasional humors. Fallacies from both sides seemed to create a number of hilarious events, such as when a small unit of Allied soldiers came across a German unit in a French rural road, both units only stared and passed each other and did nothing (!) because they were just too shocked over the presence of each other . Well, I guess it should be too hard from the author to have so many materials, since this is a military event that involved more than 5,000 ships, hundreds of airplanes/bombers/gliders/etc and hundreds of thousands of men with various nationalities.
A day when all might and force of the free world came to liberate the occupied continent from a malevolence that the world had never seen before. A day to remember.
linorosa's review against another edition
3.0
This obviously took an obsessive amount of research.
Unfortunately the almost minute-by-minute exposition of the 24 hour period surrounding the D-day invasion is too detailed to maintain much emotional connection. There are some chapters here and there dedicated to a single person and I think those are much more interesting. But in general the homeric flood of names, ranks and deeds removes some of the emotion in favor of accurate historial description.
Some takeaways:
* There's so much luck involved, not only at the planning levels but also for the individual soldier.
* Hitler created an insulated environment where his generals were afraid to give him bad news, or worse mistakenly give him bad news. This was a major contribution for them fumbling the defense on D-day.
* We generally think those iconic Higgins boats were the first to touch land at the D-day invasion, but paratroopers were first during the night, followed by gliders. All before the boats arrived.
Unfortunately the almost minute-by-minute exposition of the 24 hour period surrounding the D-day invasion is too detailed to maintain much emotional connection. There are some chapters here and there dedicated to a single person and I think those are much more interesting. But in general the homeric flood of names, ranks and deeds removes some of the emotion in favor of accurate historial description.
Some takeaways:
* There's so much luck involved, not only at the planning levels but also for the individual soldier.
* Hitler created an insulated environment where his generals were afraid to give him bad news, or worse mistakenly give him bad news. This was a major contribution for them fumbling the defense on D-day.
* We generally think those iconic Higgins boats were the first to touch land at the D-day invasion, but paratroopers were first during the night, followed by gliders. All before the boats arrived.
grllopez's review against another edition
4.0
My review: https://www.greatbookstudy.com/2020/06/the-longest-day-by-cornelius-ryan.html
sewcialist's review against another edition
5.0
This was a really amazing read, the descriptions were spot on and Ryan did an amazing job describing D-Day from various perspectives. He wove together the story seamlessly using the perspectives of the Allied and Axis powers, citizens and soldiers, and military personnel from the average GI to Rommel and Eisenhower. He paints pictures of the sheer vastness of the airborne and and navel fleets and of the thoughts and feelings of the men preparing to jump out of their airplanes and gliders or scramble up mine laden beaches.
emslovestoread's review against another edition
5.0
Hands down, the best book on World War II that I've ever read, and one of the best books I've read overall. I'm left feeling a closeness to the soldiers who fought so bravely and gave so much. I know I can never truly understand what they went through, or what they really sacrificed, but I feel like every story I read & every bit of research that I do somehow honors their memory. I will never stop learning about them-their names, their stories, and their service.
abbotsford1234's review against another edition
2.0
This is a good book. What is not good is the ebook setting of margins and paragraph breaks. The last 40 per cent comes over like a drunk was typing it. 4 stars for the early part. 2 stars for the latter part.
adrienn's review against another edition
5.0
It was sometimes a little heavy but I loved the book. I often think about things I've read in this book even years after reading it.
bowienerd_82's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not generally interested in military history, nor do I tend to read very much in the way of non-fiction, but I'm certainly glad I gave this book a chance, because I was truly amazed by the skill that went into the construction of this book. It takes a truly talented person to craft together a text about a single day in military history and keep the reader enthralled from the first page to the last. I thought this was going to be a book that would take me a week or two, but instead, I polished it off in about 24 hours, and I was shocked to have come to the end, because I was ready for so much more.
luvbug7554's review against another edition
5.0
love, love, love. The truth in the stories and time line clearly rings though. Well written. The personal stories sometimes are heartbreaking and others bring laughter. The marvel that was Operation Overlord is beautifully expressed within these pages.