Citizen Soldiers : The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany -- June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945

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Summary: Relived the war in the ETO while reading this book.
Review: I encountered many of the same experiences as the GI interviewed by stephen Ambrose.There were many other situations not covered,such as the troops just behind the front,who contributed to the fighting by keeping roads open and building semi-permenent bridges so that the pontoon and bailey bridges could be sent to the front.We cleared snow and pushed wrecked tanks and trucks off the roads in the ardennes. We supplied operators and engineer equiptment to the combat engineers.

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Summary: One of the best historic military books I've read in awhile.
Review: The best book written about the U.s fighting men and women in WWII. It gets down to the real fighters of the battles. The lowly NCO's and enlisted men. It also shows the "history makers" for what they were, uninformed jerks who wanted to be remembered in the history books as the winners of the great battles.

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Summary: A worthy sequel to "D-Day"!
Review: As a history buff, I have often ignored books concerning American history, in favor of ones concentrating solely on European events. But Stephen Ambrose is one of the very few authors who is able to tempt me with his writings. My own father served under General Patton, but I never had the opportunity to question him about the war in which he fought. Reading Ambrose's books, I am able to be present, and I feel, through the vivid prose of the soldier-narrators, that my own father is there beside me, telling me the tales of war and death that I didn't get directly from him before he died. I've recommended this book to my own son, an English major, so he would be able to learn why both of his grandfathers fought World War II, and be able to experience, albeit vicariously, their lives during that turbulent time. Ambrose has preserved for succeeding generations something very valuable, and we should all be profoundly grateful to him.

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Summary: Ambrose once again illustrates the personal side of war
Review: Stephen Ambrose writes history from the "common man" point of view. His descriptions and accounts paint an accurate and realistic picture of what life must have been like for the regular soldier at the front in Europe. By drawing on the oral histories of many veterans, Ambrose puts the reader in the front lines, freezing, soaking wet and scared to death. This is a must read for anyone interested in this part of history. This book would also make an excellent supplementary text to any course of history taught including WW II. What a great tribute to the American soldier in the ETO.

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Summary: Gripping and moving view from the foxholes.
Review: As a Brit, my view of WW2 is influenced by Chester Wilmot's 'The Struggle for Europe' which is very supportive of Montgomery and rather questioning of Eisenhower, Bradley and (especially) Patton. Ambrose's new book combines a resolute defence of Patton's style with a heart-rending picture of front-line life, and death. A typical US division lost its infantry strength twice over within the 11 month campaigning season before victory. It lost its junior officer and NCO stregnth thrice over. Many of these casualties were incurred during the pointless grinding attacks on the German border and after Ardennes offensive. Herein lies the greatest irony of the book, the generals Ambrose idolises are the same men who caused such unnecessary suffering through their own ignorance (few officers over Captain ever visited the US army front-lines, contrast this with Monty and Horrocks' style of personal leadership). In the end the true heros are the GIs who did their duty in their thousands despite unimaginable conditions of physical and mental hardship. They proved that soldiers of democracies fighting in a just cause can meet and beat any army in the world. I shall ask my son to read this book when he is older, to understand what our parents and grandparents lived through, or gave, to keep our countries free.

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Summary: I was disappointed and I expected more.
Review: Although I agree with the author's premise that the American troops fighting in the Western theater deserve modern recognition, I found that Mr. Ambrose repeated himself over and over again throughout the book and resorted to slang terms like "Jabos" and German "88's" to fill in detail. This wore thin quickly and after several chapters I began skimming for something fresh. In addition, Mr. Ambrose rarely introduced much less explained long quotations from the many veterans he interviewed. Such an approach might work in a Ken Burns' documentary (which I would not be surprised is in the works based on Mr. Burns'praise on the jacket cover), but it is not a satisfying substitute for real history. In short, I was frankly disappointed especially in light of Mr. Ambrose's experience and the vast wealth of materials, documents, and resources available to him. I'd take John Keegan or Cornelius Ryan anyday of the week.

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Summary: a superb book
Review: If you are a student of military history at all, or for that matter just interested in World War II, this book is an outstanding addition to your library. Ambrose is a master of oral history presentation and has a demonstrably keen grasp of the larger issues of WWII and, more importantly, of the ultimately quite human aspects of modern warfare. I could not recommend this book more highly. I'll treasure my copy and read it again. I'm also getting my father, a WWII/ETO vet, this book for Christmas. Bert Woodall, Houston

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Summary: Stephen E. Ambrose Hits a Homerun!
Review: Stephen Ambrose takes us into the trenches of the ETO WWII, through the rain, mud, cold, snow, hunger, and hedgerows. The American soldier faced incredible odds against the heavily fortified and defended German army. From the Normandy Invasion to the race to Berlin the reader can almost hear the barrage of artillary, snipers shooting and tanks rollings through this epic documentary of a war almost forgotten by today's generation. A must read that will be enjoyed by all. Kudo's to Stephen Ambrose once again.

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Summary: "Stephen Ambrose Hits a Homerun!"
Review: Stephen Ambrose takes us into the trenches of the ETO WW II, through the cold, rain, snow, mud, and hunger, the American soldier must face incredible odds against the German Army. From the Normany invasion to the race to Berlin the reader can almost hear the artillary firing, snipers shooting, and tanks rolling through this epic novel of a war almost forgotten by today's generation. A must read that will be enjoyed by all. Kuto's to Stephen Ambrose once again.

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Summary: Great book but............
Review: I thought the book was phenomenal. Not enough has been written about the men who did the actual fighting. My only comment is that I find it very hard to believe that our foot soldiers handed out candy to German citizens after the deaths of over 20 million people. In fact, from my conversations with some who were there, the German people had a lot to fear when they saw an American rifle company.