Rating: Summary: An entertaining read... Review: This Ambrose book takes you from the beaches of Northern France to the heart of Germany over an 11 month period at the end of WW2. Most of the book is written off the accounts of both American and German veterans who served on the front lines during these crucial months. Of most notable interest, are the many quoted eye witness accounts of humanitarian deeds performed and permitted by both sides and how it made this front probably the least barbaric of all WW2 theaters. My only complaint, and it's a big one, is how Ambrose lets his patriotic feelings for America get in the way of his fantastic visual and sensory settings. You'll find yourself brilliantly feeling both the fear and jubilation of the men who took part, only to have it muddled by a poorly timed comment about American military superiority. Not to mention, but Ambrose didn't pay enough attention (in pages) to the horrible fighting in the Hurtgen Forest and the initial five days of the Ardennes Counter-Attack. These two areas should have been given more space in light of the fact that the German Wehrmacht kicked the crap out of us and the Allied situation there was desperate. Anyway, a good book. I just wish it was more consistent for both sides.
Rating: Summary: This book is amazing! Review: Is there no end to Stephen Ambrose's mastery of the history of WW II in the European theatre? This book puts you in the shoes of an infantry solider and makes you feel like you're right in the middle of the war. Do not miss the opportunity to read this book!
Rating: Summary: THE best work about America's best generation of men. Review: I am humbled by Mr Ambrose's retelling of our nation's most terrifying and ultimately most triumphant time. Mr. Ambrose takes us to what we in the military refer to as the culminating point - of WWII. His easy transitions from grand strategy to foxhole points-of-view satisfy both the intellectual and visceral "need to know". Ambrose has captured the essence of war and the more personal, combat, with this work. Read this book so that you will better understand why those old codgers still cry when old glory passes by. Read this book and maybe you'll cry, too.
Rating: Summary: Magnifique! Review: As a young girl I watched as American GI's liberated my village. CITIZEN SOLDIERS rekindled so many memories . . . I loved this fine book, and was very touched by another very moving book I ordered from amazon, THE TRIUMPH AND THE GLORY. It is one of the best novels of the war that I have ever read. Thank you for permitting me to record my review.
Rating: Summary: Once again, Ambrose writes a masterpeice Review: Citizen Soldiers is truly a masterpeice. Only Ambrose can so accurately capture the experience of the ordinary fighting man. This made me realize that Eisenhower and Montgomery didn't win the war, but the the G.I.'s did. A must read for all lovers of military history. It offers a very unique and important perspective of the world's most important event this century.
Rating: Summary: A Vital Record Review: Ambrose's book superbly captures the horrors and drama experienced by GI's in WWII. This masterful text is a vital record of first-person accounts--the soldiers re-telling it as they remember it. Ambrose's sense of dramatic story-telling is also at play here. He weaves the interviews together brilliantly. Therein, however, is a critcal aspect of this project too many readers miss: Ambrose goes for the dramatic and first-person record sometimes as the expense of objectivity. Ambrose is not as good of a military historian as John Keegan--Keegan's depth, fact-finding, objectivity, and analysis in writing military history is remarkable. Ambrose, it must be noted, is not a traditional or always even rigorous historian (relatively speaking only); he's not afraid to be a bit of a cheerleader during his book, to chose sides and even allow the vaguest whiff of jingoism ot flit across the odd page here or there.
Rating: Summary: A literary monument to the men who served the U.S in WWII. Review: Citizen Soldiers is told from the viewpoint of both German and American G.I.'s in the European Theater of Operations. It is the most gripping, triumphant, and saddening depictions of WWII I have ever read. It is a literary monument to the men, both living and deceased, who served their country with the courage and strength for which American soldiers have so remarkably exibited.
Rating: Summary: Enlightening Review: Stephen Ambrose tells what really happened...the color behind the black and white newsreels and stills we use to mark these moments in time. Until its reading I had little idea of the degree of impact the course of unfolded events on that day--D-day-- had for me, for all of us. My father was a member of the 2nd Ranger Batallion and the miracle of his survival as well as that of the others who remained to tell their tales, is clearly shown in Ambrose's prose. I swear I even saw his face (my father's) under a helmet in one of the still photos.
Rating: Summary: Found the German point of view most interesting. Review: I've read the book twice. The first time I was enthralled with the tales of the combatants. Dr. Ambrose brought the story of those eleven months to life for me by allowing people who were there to do the telling. I found accounts told by German soldiers particularly interesting. I will seek out more literature containing such accounts. During the second reading I was trying to revisit some of my favorite historical characters whom I met the first time, such as General Gavin, Lt. Waverly Wray, the 29th Infantry Div., and many more. Lots of heroes I never knew about...on both sides. That's a thought that occurs to me....Ambrose doesn't paint the men as heroic. He lets the real storytellers (the GI's) create the heroes. Meet'em yourself. Buy the book. You'll be glad you did.
Rating: Summary: A most amazing experience in literature Review: Stephen E. Ambrose's account of the allied victory after D-Day is a riveting experience. His account of how American soldiers fought, the hardships they went through during a bitter winter campaign, the push throught the Rhine deep into Germany for a final,unconditional victory is honest, admirable and worthy of acclaim. His contrast between the relentless push from the Allied Generals in charge of the war and the soldiers that accopmlished their mission is an amazing credit to the junior officers, NCO's and enlisted troops that scrificed everything for freedom. I can only say: Read this book. Through his decriptive accounts of the battles that took place (both behind the senes in the Allied operations center and on the battlefields across Europe), your heart will go out to the young men and women that fought. WWII was the critical event in the 20th Century and Ambrose captures its importance in his work.
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