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Summary: In the Hedgerows
Review: Spephen Ambrose does an excellent job of interviewing and reporting the action from the viewpoint of those that were there with editorial inserts where appropriate. History is written by the survivors and the official history and view from on high (The brass that runs things), ofter leaves a more grandiose and distorted picture, whether of victory or defeat. This is how it looked to those who there and saw their comrades die and maimed. Unspeakable heroism is the norm and for those who only a few months before were civilians waiting to be drafted it is an awesome story. Should be required reading for the younger generation.
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Summary: a different account than what we are taught
Review: Steven Ambrose grabs you from the first page and does not stop. His accounts of what happened from d-day plus one on is sometimes gruesome in detail. He gives you a different perspetive of the war than what we were taught in school.
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Summary: A Survey of the World War Two GI
Review: Stephen Ambrose uses the not-very original (although he suggests to the naive that it is) technique of using a first-person survey of US soldiers in combat from Normandy to VE Day to illuminate the Second World War GI; this is basically old wine in a new bottle. The book is very anecdotal in nature with little analysis, but Ambrose keeps interest with a readable style. There are no new thesis here, but Ambrose is critical of the US higher command in continuing the "broad front" campaign during bad weather and supply difficulties of October-November 1944. As Ambrose sees it, the Allies should have paused to allow their supplies to catch up and weather to improve. The actual result was heavy casualties for minimal gain and giving the Germans an opportunity to rip through the front against tired, worn-out divisions. Ambrose may have a point here, but he minimizes the feeling in October 1944 that German collapse was imminent with one more push. Just like the Germans felt in Russia in October-November 1941. Also in war, one does not surrender the initiative lightly. Ambrose does not always have his facts straight, like claiming that the Panther tank had an 88mm gun or that the Luftwaffe did not challenge the Allied airborne drops in Holland (in fact, they shot down 33 C-47s on the first day - 3% of the total). Maps adequate, but large scale.
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Summary: Deffinately in the top 5 of all books on WWII
Review: Excellent continuation of D-Day (0-684-80137-x). I suggest If you haven't read that book yet, get it and start there. After reading D-Day by the same author, I knew this book would be good. I just didn't think it would be this good. Mr. Ambrose deserves every second of praise he has gotten for his efforts in bringing that era of history to life. If you want to read about extreme human courage, and all the insanity of war read these two books.
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Summary: Expendability-American style
Review: I'm a WWII buff and so the accounts of the strategies and the battles and the movement of forces wasn't that new to me. But these things are not what this book is about. This book is about what Winston Churchill said won the war "...The American soldier." It makes for heart-gripping and page-turning reading. I was familiar, as most who have read about the final days of the ETO campaign are, with Hitler using brainwashed young boys to fight to the bitter end. What I was NOT, and am now acutely familiar with, through Ambrose's use of quotes from veterans who were front-line soldiers throughout the book, is the fact that our government did nearly the same thing, sending 18-year-olds fresh out of boot camp to the front lines both before, after and during the Battle of the Bulge when the older soldiers were swept away by the Germans or died of cold and hunger (or, not infrequently, insanity) in their frozen foxholes. Frequently, of course, many of the replacements faced the same fate. But we always had replacements for replacements. We had such a supply of men and materiel by the war's end.-The book brought home to me, as nearly as any vicarious experience can, what it means to be freezing, hungry, besieged by enemies and, worst of all, with a feeling in the pit of your soul that your death won't matter, that you are expendable. A must read for those interested in life (and death) from the perspective of the "grunts."
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Summary: Everyone should read this book.
Review: Largely because of "D-Day" and "Citizen Soldier" and now the opening of the D-Day museum in New Orleans, Stephen Ambrose has revived the monumental debt this country owes the men and women of WW II. His ability to write history like a gifted novelist and his weaving throughout of the soldiers' tale in their own words, makes these two works the best of the written history of the ETO. Hard to imaging one being able to read either without feeling overwhelming pride, humility and a clearer understanding of how much we have lost in half a century.Both are extraordinary books written by an extraordinary historian.
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Summary: Great book
Review: I am a huge fan of history and military history in general. Stephen Ambrose is by far the greatest writer on the subject. This is one of his best, and should be read by anyone interested in learning more about such a tumultuous time in our history.
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Summary: Without a Doubt the Best Book on the European Theater
Review: The WWII literature is teeming with books about individual battles such as Battle of the Bulge, Operation Market Garden, and D-Day. However, no book to date has better covered the Campaign in Western Europe from June 7, 1944 through V-E Day. The book presents a simple premise: The war was not won by Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton, or Montgomery. Rather, the Allies beat the Nazis with junior officers and NCOs recently drafted or commissioned to fight the war. By concentrating on this convincing theme, "Citizen Soldiers" presents the battles and the skirmishes from the viewpoint of the frontline soldiers, medics, airmen, and quartermasters. Enough has been written about the great generals of WWII to fill a shopping mall. Until this book, the average GI Joe (and Jane) were given too little credit for bearing the brunt of victory. Additionally, too many previous historians have focused on what the generals did and did not do properly and how those decisions effected the outcome of the war. Ambrose's book, instead, tells us about how our citizen soldiers went up against the more professional soldiers of the German Wehrmacht and defeated them in only 11 months despite the endless mistakes of our own generals. The Allies didn't win the war because Bradley was a military genius or because Patton was dashing and daring. We won the war because of the incredible bravery and ingenuity of ordinary Americans. I, for one, think the stories of bravery and ingenuity in the face of sheer terror makes for a far more compelling story.
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Summary: Brings history to life
Review: On the positive side, Citizen Soldiers masterfully interweaves the large-scale strategy of the European campaign with the day-to-day experiences of individual GIs. As such, it offers non-veterans an insight into the horrendous slugfest of 1944-45. I have to agree with previous reviewers, however, that Ambrose is more interested in cannonizing GIs than writing history. Particuarly suspicious is his central thesis - that there was something unique about American "citizen soldiers" that led inexorably to the defeat of Nazi Germany. I imagine that the British, free French, Russians, and Poles who fought bitterly throughout the war might have a different viewpoint.
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Summary: Simply The Best!
Review: Ambrose has done it again! Citizen Solider is a work beyond compare. I was enthralled from start to finish by the detail, personal testimony and heart breaking sacrifice made by the men who defeated Nazi Germany and liberated the world. Surly this story can find it's way into our modern classrooms so the world will never forget what these men did to keep us free. Read this harrowing account of total warfare and prepare your senses for a dose of reality you never expected. Ambrose is the leading authority on the WWII veteran and he takes you there like no author has done before. For a deeper appreciation of the generation that kept us free, read this book. It is their own unique story, richly told and forever enshrined.
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