Rating: 
Summary: excellent! a must for all sons of fathers who served in WWll
Review: I just finished this book , and could not put it down. It explains a great deal about a democracy and its people, going through a great tribulation. It indirectly, through the stories of those who served at the front, explains who we are as a people and nation, and why America has lent its spirit of leadership and friendship to the world.One understands the work ethic of those who came through this time and went on to explode the inventiveness of the human mind in the technologic age for the betterment of the world we now enjoy and the values of life now shared in America.It explains to us who our fathers were , and the emotions,energy and efforts that shaped them and their famlies, us, and our nation and world after the war. A must read.
Rating: 
Summary: A Flag Waving Technician
Review: Although the book is an interesting read, Ambrose should be considered a technician - not an artist. I found it hard to get past the fact that Ambrose repeats himself again and again and again and again and again. How many times does he need to mention the marvels of American industrial power? In my opinion, Ambrose is a nothing more than a high school editor who happens to write about subjects that sell. I'm also unhappy that Ambrose contributes to the collective ignorance about other WWII theaters. Accomplished historians have written about more than one subject. Ambrose maximizes his "return-on-research" by writing printing several books about the same subject matter! Clearly, the Ambrosian perspective is limited to the European Theater of Operations. This is unfortunate given the fact that, in the Pacific, the Japanese never surrendered and never took prisoners. The Germans were school girls compared to the Japanese. Ambrose portrays the Germans as "fanatics." Obviously he has never read anything about the fighting in the Pacific. If you want to read about Americans in battle. Read William Manchester's "Goodbye Darkness." This is a first hand account of the war in the Pacific theater. Unlike Ambrose, Manchester is an artist and a soldier.
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Summary: A wonderful and horrible, yet essential experience.
Review: This novel allows one to enter into the lives of the combatants on a multitude of levels. These are not the stories of the polished generals, these are the stories of the front line soldiers told in a clear voice with palpable vividness. The books moves fluidly and along the way you make friends only to lose them. Interestingly, some of the glimpses of the war relate the German frontline viewpoint. Ambrose includes comments from German soldiers who were there and this creates emotional squalls. An excellent read, bravo!
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Summary: A dedication to "real" combat soldiers
Review: This unique work is told in three voices. First is the strategic or overall voice as is so much military writing. Just the facts, ma'am, no emotion. Second are the individual stories of the dogfaces doing the job of war, the stories that make you wonder how they did what they did and makes anyone with an ounce of humanity never want war again. Third is the present voice Ambrose used to give a current perspective to the story. He interjects his own commentary in a way that gives life to the story that has not been done in other works. A very fine book. If you are interested in WW II literature, this work is required reading.
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Summary: Ambrose will not tolerate anything less than the truth when
Review: By John Rafferty, Age:16 of PA A. Book Stephen E. Ambrose, "Citizen Soldier.", (Simon and Schuster; New York), 1997, pp. 528. B. Author Stephen Ambrose was born in 1936, in the town of Whitewater, Wisconsin. After he earned a Ph.D. in History from the University of Wisconsin, he taught at several colleges and universities in the U. S. and Europe from 1960 to 1995. He retired from teaching in 1995, and currently lives in Mississippi and Montana. He has had a passion for history since he was young. At the age of 12 he began listening to World War II stories directly from newly-returned war veterans. Ambrose has written 19 books, all biographies or historical works "requiring research so extensive that it seems it must represent the toil of at least four lifetimes" . He is the founder, director, and president of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies and the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans. The Eisenhower Center is a non-profit institute, which studies and preserves American history and leadership from many perspectives, including social history, foreign policy, literature, and popular culture. The National D-Day Museum will open on June 6, 2000, which is also the date of the opening of the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA. The museum will exhibit the Higgins Landing Craft and artifacts from Utah and Omaha Beaches. Ambrose's credentials as an historian make him well qualified to write this book. His extensive studies and writings on Eisenhower (as general and as president) and other key figures in World War II and his interviews with thousands of war veterans qualify Ambrose for writing a book about the experiences of soldiers in World War II. Stephen Ambrose has recently worked as chief historian with Hollywood film director Steven Spielberg for the movie "Saving Private Ryan", which Ambrose calls "the best war film ever made". C. Thesis and Scope of Work Stephen Ambrose has not attempted to give an in depth narration or analysis of World War II in his book Citizen Soldier. Instead, Ambrose has written a masterfully crafted book about the day-to-day life of the ordinary soldier, which focuses on how teamwork amongst the soldiers was the only means of success during the War. Ambrose says "the U.S. Army had....bound these men together into a team that featured initiative at the bottom and cold-blooded determination and competency at the top." Instead of detailing the intricate battle plans and maneuvers developed by the commanding officers, Ambrose takes the war to a personal level, by describing the war from a soldier's point of view. In order to relay to the reader what the GIs felt, what they went through, and how they worked together as a team, Ambrose has drawn from interviews and memoirs to show the reader the war from a soldier's perspective. It is only through this manner that Ambrose can successfully lead the reader to appreciate the hardships and difficulties that these men had to endure. In one instance Ambrose tells of the importance of cooperation to surviving a long winter's night in a cold, wet foxhole. Ambrose says, "What was unendurable, the GIs endured...the conditions were often so deplorable that [the men] had nothing else to go on, but [their] own morale...'you're sitting there in a foxhole rubbing your buddy's feet, and he's rubbing yours so you don't get trench foot.'" Ambrose says that "foxhole buddies" were "closer than brothers... they would die for one another." Ambrose states as his thesis: "That unit cohesion, team work, and the development of a sense of family in the squad and platoon, are the qualities most World War II veterans point to when asked how they survived and won." Ambrose says of Eisenhower that "His insistence on teamwork was the key to victory." Through this book, Ambrose offers a new perspective to many regarding World War II. He skillfully puts the reader on the front lines of battle and makes them anxious to turn the page to see whether or not they will survive the next barrage of shells or fire from enemy tanks. He helps the reader realize the importance of every one of the brave men who fought in World War II. As he introduces each soldier, whether a private, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, or major, he does so in such a way that the reader gets to know each one. The reader follows the soldier's experience in a particular battle or related experience, and then feels as if he as lost a good friend if the soldier meets his unfortunate death. Ambrose does a very good job of not showing an obvious bias in his work Citizen Soldier. Ambrose shows the heroic deeds and faults of both sides. He relates the story of a German soldier who refused a blood transfusion for fear of it possibly containing Jewish blood, and another of an American GI who shot a group of unarmed Germans that were coming forward to surrender. Relating such disheartening deeds as these forty years ago would have been viewed as contemptuous by the American public, but Ambrose is dedicated to portraying events as they really were. Ambrose chose not to cover the entirety of World War II in Citizen Soldier. Rather, he has chosen to recount what he feels to be the most important months of the war; from June 1944, to May 1945. The story begins at 0510 hours on June 7, 1944, where his previous book, "D-Day," left off, and closes at 0245 hours on May 7, 1945 as soldiers learn of Germany's surrender. He fills over 400 pages with personal accounts, biographical information, and battle descriptions pertaining to these 11 months of the war. Why Ambrose chose to cover the last 11 months of the war is not discussed. However, it is likely that he considered these months to be the most difficult, the ones that clearly showed the importance of teamwork and unit cohesion. Ambrose says that Citizen Soldier "is not a book about generals. It is about the GIs, the junior officers and enlisted men of ETO [European Theater of Operations ] ¾who they were, how they fought, why they fought, what they endured, and how they triumphed." Section 3 of the book is titled "Life In ETO." It provides a detailed account of the conditions under which the GIs fought. Ambrose includes in the introduction to this section, what he thought to be the main themes that run from June 1944 to May 1945: "What is was like to spend the night in a foxhole, the praise of the GIs for the Army's Medical Corps, the terrors and triumphs of the men who fought the war in the skies; the cost paid by those who did their duty because of the ones who didn't; and the experience of being a POW." D. Style and Organization Although Stephen Ambrose has not stated the audience for which he writes, his writing style and jargon suggest that he is writing for a general audience. He makes it a point to explain precisely what he means when referring to a military term or abbreviation that might otherwise confuse the common reader. For example, when Ambrose mentions the ASTP, he spends more than a paragraph explaining that this "Army Specialized Training Program" was a pet project of Secretary of War Henry Stimson that put bright young men through college, if they would join the Army after graduation. Ambrose has written this book in such a way that a person with little or no previous knowledge of World War II can appreciate it. Although veterans might be able to relate to this book in a more meaningful way than others, everyone would benefit from reading this book. I believe that Ambrose has definitely achieved connection with the "general audience." The book is arranged in a chronological sequence from June 7, 1944 to May 7. 1945. The only exception to this is Part Three: "Life in the ETO" which follows a sequence of time within each chapter. This section is more topical than narrative. This approach works well, however. In the midst of all the fighting and battle images evoked in the readers' mind by Ambrose's vivid imagery, Section 3 provides a break in the action with the description of the day-to-day lives of these men: who they were, how they acted, what they thought, what their fears were, how they overcame these difficulties, and how all these factors led to their ultimate victory. The story, as Ambrose relates it, flows well as a narrative. Ambrose's excellent writing style leaves the reader with a thorough understanding of the material in the book. I can honestly say that I was able to understand about 98% of this book, leaving the remaining 2% accounted for by careless reading on my own part. As non-fiction books often present a difficulty for me, I was surprised to find how much of Citizen Soldier I was able to retain and appreciate. I believe that it was mostly Ambrose's writing style that allowed me to comprehend what he had to say so well. His writing moves along at a nice pace, and his thoughts flow smoothly from one idea to the next. He introduces the reader to a particular soldier in about one sentence, and then spends the next paragraph describing the experience of that particular GI or junior officer.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding: Don't Miss This One
Review: My WWII library is quite extensive, but I have nothing I regard as superior to this book. My father was a WWII vet who fought in the "other Battle of the Bulge" called Operation Northwind. He hardly ever spoke about his experiences, and this book finally helped me understand clearly just why he was so reticent. If you are interested in the day-to-day experiences of the combat soldier in the 2nd World War, buy this book.
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Summary: Straightforward description plus universal insights
Review: Better than the run of the mill with nice writing and a thesis that holds up
Rating:
Summary: A must read for WWII history student
Review: My father and uncles all served in the South Pacific during WWII and those were the war stories I heard growing up. Until I read "Citizen Soldier" I thought the war in the European Theater consisted of the air war and D-Day. I now have a new respect for the men who fought in Europe. One day in 1960, I asked my 6th grade teacher, Mr. Guy Wood, what he did in WWII. He told me he was in the Army Infantry in Europe, but didn't get there until after D-Day. He never said another word about it, and at the time I thought that was because there wasn't much to tell. Now...Thanks Mr. Woods, for everything.
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Summary: A Daring Account
Review: This book is in no way an IN DEPTH analysis of what went wrong and what went right in the ETO. After finishing Citizen Soldiers, what sticks with the reader is not the overall scheme of the book, but the individual stories: stories of heroism, stories of survival, stories that reinforce our appreciation of what it means to be human. There can be no doubt that there is a universal fascination with war. Perhaps it is because when we look into the heat of battle, we see ourselves, stripped of principle, and are left with a bizarre form of truth.
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Summary: Talk about heroes!
Review: My father was a B-17 pilot stationed in Northeast England in the latter stages of the war. Citizen Soldiers is the story of men like him. Average American young men, coming out of the depression enlisting for a great cause. These are the people who are the true "stars" of our society. Only until I read Citizen Soldiers was I fully able to comprehend the horror of battle and the awful conditions our troops faced. Mr Ambrose does a great job of telling the story of the men and women who literally saved the world. In a few years I hope my eleven year old son reads this book so he can better understand what others before him have done so that we can live the easy lives we have. Bravo Mr. Ambrose!
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