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Summary: Should be required reading for all Americans.
Review: Stephen Ambrose pays tribute to the heroes of WWII in the best way possible, in their own words. Covering the war in Europe from June 7 1944 to May 7 1945, Ambrose gives you an overall history of key events backed up by personal reflections of both American and German veterans.This book contains personal accounts of what it was actually like to live, fight, and mostly survive on the front lines of the battlefield. One amazing story after another describes what it was like to spend weeks in a foxhole under sub zero temeratures, to being cramped into a B-17 under enemy fire. I found myself being completely horrified from one page, to laughing at the next, but always shaking my head and thinking "WOW". There are also accounts of some lesser-published trageties of the war such as the senseless battle of the Hurtgen forrest, the sinking of the Leopoldville, and the way poorly trained replacement troops were shuttled to the front lines only to be killed in large numbers due to their lack of experience. I turned pages of this book faster than I have with any other book. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in this subject and would like a better appreciation of the sacrifices of so many to preserve the freedom that we enjoy today.
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Summary: No words can explain
Review: Stephen Ambrose tries to explain the hell and joy that the WWII soldier went through following D-Day and touches your soul. I know there is no way to even fathom the feelings felt by the soldiers, but this book does a good job in making you feel like you are watching from the side. If you are interested in WWII soldiers at all, this is a must read.
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Summary: one of my favorite books
Review: We all (anybody reading reviews such as this) know something about the subject. But maybe not very realistically. I knew the casualty rates were maybe 5 or 10 percent but did not realize that they were 100+ % on the front line and closer to zero in the back. I did not realize that the front line extended only about a km and once you were there the American policy was to leave your company there; replacing the casualties as they got shredded by mortors, picked off by snipers, or blown up by mines. Your chances were slim once you hit the front line because in general it was till death (or loss of limb) do you depart. And I did not realize the great courage of many of those men. I am taken by the men who refused to leave their machine guns during the bulge. And I did not know that the war was won on the company and platoon level. I was left feeling that Eisenhower was decent, not great but not too bad a general. Sort of a U.S. Grant type. Patton was pretty good albeit wacky. Bradly was sub par. Montgomery was a disaster; many men died because of him. But mostly that they did not matter much, they just put the men on the continent with supplies and let the junior officers and their men win the war.
I like the end were he makes a point that the survivors of that war were the ones who built this country afterwards; he makes a point that conformity and teamwork are not so bad a thing when you think about it.
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Summary: Normandy Invasion
Review: This is a good book, light on the history. The book was easy to read and it adequately reflects the period of history under discussion. I found it valuable and entertaining.
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Summary: A good account of the Western Front
Review: In typical Ambrose style, this book is an easy-to-read account of the Western Front, from June 1944 (following the Normandy Invasion) to the end of the war in May 1945. While Ambrose does cover the push into Germany from the strategic perspective, this is really the story of the ordinary American soldier of that time, who performed his duty well under the most trying of conditions. The book is in one sense quite sad, as you feel you get to know some of the real-life individuals who were killed. On the other hand, the accounts of personal and collective courage are inspiring. Further, Ambrose provides good food for thought in his argument that the hardships of the war produced a generation of Americans who, in the second half of the century, built the U.S. into the prosperous country that it is today.
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Summary: Ambrose Wins Again
Review: One cannot begin to explain the wealth of information that Stephen Ambrose gives the reader. He starts right after the Normandy invasion, and ends when the war in Europe is won. Ambrose puts you on the battlefield with the soldiers, and in the offices of high command. He makes you feel what they are feeling. He uses hundreds of interviews with solidiers to let the reader know exactly what was happening out there. From the hedgerow fighting in France, to the Siegfried Line, to the Armies advance to the Rhine, everything is covered wonderfully. He even has interviews with soldiers who were on the Axis side. Anyone who is even remotely interested in learning about World War II should read this book. It is an amazing book. -Nick Folkman
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Summary: Citizen Soldiers is great follow-up to D-Day
Review: After reading Stephen E. Ambrose's best-selling D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II, I was amazed by the late author's unabashed admiration for the soldiers who served in Europe and fought against Hitler's forces. So when I heard about Citizen Soldiers, naturally I had to read it. Citizen Soldiers picks up the narrative of the last 11 months of World War II in Europe on June 7, 1944 (D+1) and takes the reader along on a fascinating battlefield tour of Northwest Europe. Ambrose, of course, covers all the major campaigns (Normandy, the race to the Rhine, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Battle for Germany), but he takes the time to explore little-talked about topics, such as the Hurtgen Forest debacle, the Army's lousy repple-depples, glimpses into the daily lives of the GIs, and the effect of racism in the pre-integrated Army. Athough his main focus is the American "citizen soldier," more spce is devoted to German veterans and their recollections of the battles fought between June 7, 1944 and May 7, 1945.
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Summary: A tribute to the WWII American infantry
Review: Stephen Ambrose is by far the best chronicler of the American soldier during World War II and this book is one of his best efforts. It tells the stories of the seemingly ordinary guys in the trenches and on the front lines and how these "citizen soldiers" , many of whom were still in their teens, literally became men and made their country proud. They truly were, to borrow a phrase from TomBrokaw, the "greatest generation". Reading their stories as told by Ambrose, you realize how right Brokaw was. A great book which justly pays tribute to all the soldiers who fought for American during WWII.
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Summary: A Solid Work
Review: This book is what I call the third volume in Stephen Ambrose's "ETO Trilogy." The first volume is of course, "Band of Brothers" the second is "D-Day" and this, his concluding volume. It reminds me very much of Bruce Catton's "A Stillness at Appomattox," one of the most powerful Civil War books ever written.
However, some sloppy research (like Fritz Bayerlein commanding the 12th SS Panzer Division, he commanded the Panzer Lehr-though to Ambrose's and Simon and Schuster's credit, was corrected in subsequent printings) creeped into the text, thus marring what I thought was an excellent work overall. The end result was a wonderful portrait of the U.S. Army from June 1944 to May 1945.
What I liked most is that Ambrose rarely stayed at the Generals' level instead, his interest is in the men who did the dirty work. He stays with the GI's, thus, we see the ETO as they experienced it; what it smelled and above all else, felt like.
Those looking for a complete portrait of the Western European campaign are advised to look elsewhere. Ambrose's interest is with the American Army and that is exactly where he stays. He differs with stalwarts like Russell Weigley and believes that the GIs were a fierce enemy in the field. Ambrose also gets the German side of the story so we don't get a skewed view of events (it's nice to see what's happening on the other side of the hill for a change).
For specialists of the ETO, I believe Ambrose is nothing new. Those who want more books of a specialist nature might wish to read Michael Doubler (whom Ambrose cites in his work) or Peter Mansoor or Robert Sterling Rush. Each has written works on the GIs in the ETO and each is excellent.
For those getting started on their WWII reading, I think Citizen Soldiers is an excellent place to start.
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Summary: the second installment in the second war
Review: This book picks up right about where Ambrose left off in D-Day. He shows the soldiers more closely than ever here, and he shows them as individuals, while still covering the war all the way to the surrender of Germany. This book is just as great as his D-Day one and for all the same reasons. Ambrose's use of detail, much of it received from oral interviews, never bores but thoroughly enhances the read. So pick it up and learn how that famous chapter of U.S. history came to a close.
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