Rating: 
Summary: Just as confusing as the subject matter
Review: If Stephen Ambrose is the pre-eminent American historian and chronicler of WWII, the Republic is in deep trouble, boys and girls. His D-Day is an admirable work but is deeply flawed. If his purpose was to reflect the grand confusion, isolation and futility of D-Day, he succeeded admirably. However, if his purpose was to give the reader a clear picture of who did what to whom when on 6/6/44, he falls far short. And I believe that to be the primary mission of the historian. I was intensely motivated to read, to consume, this material after seeing "Saving Private Ryan." Like so many other Boomers, I was absolutely dumbfounded that all of those men docilely got into landing craft to storm Fortress Europa. I wanted to hear their testimony. That I heard and was blown away by their singleminded faith and sense of purpose (something grievously lacking in the body politic today). I take great exception to Ambrose's jingoistic cheerleading. It seems that American troops (with the Canadians a close second) could do no wrong. Cowardice, stupidity or mistakes were covered in the softest of terms. Such coddling did not extend to the German troops or the British. I was comforted at the confirmation of some of the elements of the American character as it has evolved in the 20th Century, this Pax Americana. We are a culture with individuals who display abundant initiative, an impatience with plans that don't work, a disdain for authority and a "can-do" attitude. That came through again and again in Ambrose's account. I think he would have done better to organize his material in parallel fashion. That is, divide his pages into time segments and give concurrent information and commentary on what was happening on the different invasion beaches. Some stricter editing would have helped as well to weed out the extraneous commentary and redundancies. I needed to hear the anti-British slam about stopping for tea time once, not the multitude of times. More maps would have been invaluable, especially given the scale of D-Day. Perhaps he would have done better to concentrate on some of the more complete (in terms of time covered) of the verbal histories and used that as his backbone (as Studs Terkel has done so brilliantly on so many occasions).
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Work with Reservations
Review: I believe that Mr. Ambrose is currently America's most popular authority on WWII, and I certainly appreciate the attention he has helped garner for the time period and his assistance in making "Saving Private Ryan" an incredible film. I do, however, echo concerns that Mr. Ambrose seems entirely to ignore the incredible contribution that the Russians made to WWII. The Western Front in Europe was indeed a side show. Begun several years after the Climactic Battles at Midway, El Alamein, and of course, Stalingrad. As battles go - D-Day was certainly a climactic battle for the United States, but to think that a 15 Division Salient could compare to the 250 Divisions that struggled on the steppes of Russia - well, that is just plain ignorance. The Germans could have repulsed the Allied invasion at Normandy and that would not have changed the inevitable resolution of the war, just where the Iron Curtain would have fallen after it. Mr. Ambrose, I hope that your choice to ignore our allies contribution is nothing more than your desire to tell the story of American's in WWII, and not because you think that American Stories are the only stories worth telling.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging, Exciting and Unforgettable...
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Great first-hand accounts from soldiers present at many epic battles make the book come alive. Supporting maps (& photos) aid the reader unfamiliar with the territories covered. I would have liked to have seen more about the British & Canadien beach landings (maps,etc), and perhaps less cheerleading by the author. A more appropriate title for Mr. Ambrose's entertaining and highly engaging book would have been: "The American's Major Role in the Planning, Preparation and Execution of the D-Day Invasion, and the Consequences at Omaha Beach" A little wordy, I admit, but perhaps more accurate as to the content.
Rating: 
Summary: even the title of this book is jingoistic
Review: This book distorts history even in its title. Basically, this is an anecdotal,monomaniacal attempt to portray Omaha Beach on D-Day as the most important battle of WW2. This is totally an aberration of reality. By focusing on individual stories and interesting historical tidbits Mr. Ambrose makes it seem that the Americans in Normandy won the war. This is simply not true. Most of the bleeding, dying, and killing in WW2 was done on the Eastern Front by the Soviets. To the Germans the Western battlefields were a kind of R&R compared to the horror of Russia and eastern Europe. This book is for Americans who want to believe we did everything in WW2. The historical facts don't bear this out,and in fact calling D-Day the climactic battle of the war belittles the more significant contribution of the Army Air Forces in the destruction of Germany. In the great scheme of things, D-Day was a gigantic amphibious operation with surprisingly light casualties, significant because it gave the Western Allies some moral authority in the partition of the already defeated Germany. I liked this book when I first read it because it rekindled my interest in WW2, but now, having read alot more especially about the Eastern Front and the Battle of Berlin, I find the title and author very irritating. If some hypothetical "objective observer" measured WW2 battles with a hypothetical "Battle-O-Meter",D-Day would be a small blip compared to the titanic struggles at Stalingrad, Kursk,and Berlin. Read this book if you want Feel-Good American History, but try to keep some perspective, because America certainly didn't win the ground war in Europe single-handed.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: I'm going to make this short and simple. The best book about D-Day I have EVER read.--p.s.-- After reading this and watching Saving Private Ryan.....Thank you veterans. We love you, and will never forget those that have fought and died for our freedom.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, lively history.
Review: Ambrose brings history alive and makes one truly appreciate the sacrifices and difficulties faced on the DDay beaches. I recently visited the beaches in Normandy and, while I found them impressive, didn't get too much out of it. I wish that I had read this book before I went and had been carrying it while on the sand. Great mixture of personal stories and overall picture of the battle. My favorite book by him yet.
Rating:
Summary: Sane and balanced view of inferior foreigners.
Review: Now, folks out there have been objecting to Mr Ambrose's characterisation of all those limey creeps.... uh, British servicemen at D-Day as gutless. But, hell, it's true.Now some smart fellows have suggested that Mr Ambrose should prove this assertion by repeating it to one or two British D-Day veterans, face to face. And let me assure them that just as soon as Mr Ambrose secures permission to hire armed security guards to tie one or two of those vets up and hold them at gunpoint, he surely will. Now as to the assertion that Mr Ambrose left out, uh, maps, captured German documents, testimony, official casualty figures, and the US Army's own Survey of the war in Europe, merely because they contradicted his brilliant arguments ....Uh, well, I think personally that omitting or distorting facts to insult the dead is a good thing to do.And no, I'm not gonna give you any reasons why I think that.What are you, some kinda foreigner?
Rating:
Summary: Sorry about Archie
Review: Forgive Archie - he has such a short attention span when I read to him - the big words give him such headaches.... Personally, I felt the book was wonderful - Ambrose gave everyone fair representation; the fact that he devoted more time to Americans doesn't mean he thought less of the rest of the Allies. Try not to take a missing map so seriously.
Rating:
Summary: It's true, foreigners are gutless....
Review: ...and hats off to Ambrose for having the insightfulness to say so.It's great to see an armchair combatant who, without having any experience of war himself, knows enough about it to say all the limeys out there that day were gutless.And I think it was a neat idea to leave out maps of all the non-American beaches.One day a truly great American historian will follow in Ambrose's footsteps and write a history of D-Day which tells our young people that Americans were the only people who fought on D-Day.Sure, Ambrose's book is not strictly honest, but who cares about that when patriotism is at stake?
Rating: 
Summary: Possibly the most definitive account of D-Day ever
Review: A truly enjoyable read - I especially enjoyed the first-hand accounts offered by soldiers on all sides of the fighting. One of the definitive accounts of the day. The anti-Ambrose cites are amusing - true, Ambrose didn't spend as much time on German, Canadian and British exploits. But you would think from the negative reviews that Ambrose completely dismissed the role of these armies. That's hardly the case, and anyone who read the book cover to cover should see that. Considering Ambrose is an American who is director of a D-Day museum in America, it is not surprising his American first-hand accounts are numerous. By the same token, I would expect a British or German book about D-Day to be heavily slanted toward their respective armies as well. Lighten up, people - Ambrose gives credit where credit is due, and if that still isn't enough for you, write your own book.
|
