Rating: 
Summary: Lets America Down
Review: I think the most disappointing thing about this book is that by focusing on US forces to the exclusion of others Ambrose insults not just other Allied forces but their American comrades as well who I am sure would be shocked and embarrassed by the treatment of their allied comrades.
Rating: 
Summary: American Bias
Review: I've read stacks of books on WW2 but I've always wanted to read one that gives us the view from the soldiers point of view, well this is that book, however (and it's a big however), it has a huge American bias (which I suppose you would expect as the author is American). Unfortunately Steven Ambrose's interpretation of D-Day isn't quite the way it really happened. What Mr Ambrose doesn't realise is that the Allies were made up of more than just American forces. As I read this book I was constantly annoyed at the way the author continually insults the other nations that formed the allies. He portrays the other nations as incompetent, useless fools, but the Americans as the all singing all dancing conquering heroes. This is an insult to all those soldiers, sailors and airmen from the numerous other nations that made up the allied forces, those brave people whose contribution to the success of the war (long before America even joined the war) years prior to D-Day and during the final campaigns is made out to be irrelevant. I'm shocked that an author (sitting on the sidelines) could insult the other allied nations in this way. It's an unforgivable insult. If you're American then by all means buy this book, you'll be waving your flags in next to no time. If you aren't American then avoid this book as it's just a huge insult to all our boys, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice. How could you Mr Ambrose!!!
Rating: 
Summary: D stands for Definitive
Review: When I was 8 years old, I came across a copy of Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day, and after I finished it I became enthralled by the events that occurred on June 6, 1944, the day Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy. And for many years Ryan's book was, in my opinion, the best book on the subject. I read other books on D-Day by authors such as Howarth and Hastings, but Ryan was the one author whose D-Day story always came to my mind.That is, until I read Stephen Ambrose's D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II. Although The Longest Day is still a wonderful book to read, Ambrose's book is now considered by many to be the definitive book about the events that took place on D-Day. Although both books tell the same story, Ambrose weaves a far more detailed tapestry than Ryan did way back in 1959. And while both authors focused on participants' accounts to give their books a "grunt's eye" view of the D-Day invasion, Ambrose refrains from tweaking people's personalities to suit his personal sense of morality as Ryan did. (In both the book and screenplay for The Longest Day, Ryan portrayed PFC Arthur "Dutch" Schultz as a proper Catholic boy and told a cleaned up version of how Schultz won, then lost, $2,500 in a game of craps.) Ambrose's strength as a historian-author is his straightforward writing style, which is accessible without being simplistic. He wrote the way he spoke: as a friendly, almost fatherly college professor who enjoyed sharing his love of history with his students and readers. His prose is crisp and never dull (something he shared with Cornelius Ryan, who he respected even if he disagreed with some of the conclusions Ryan presented in his book), and although he describes scenes of utter chaos and carnage, there are touches of humor and human foibles as well. Thus, the narrative flows effortlessly and Ambrose allows the veterans and eyewitnesses on all sides to tell their stories in their own words. Ambrose passed away a few months ago, but his legacy willl endure in this "love song to democracy," as he described this wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of time and money
Review: Save your precious time and money. Buy Max Hastings Overlord instead. Much, much better.
Rating:
Summary: Over Rated Hodgepodge
Review: I'm sorry, you Ambrose worshippers, but this book positively stinks. I know I will be hunted down and stoned for my dissenting view but I call it the way I see it. This book is barely more than a collection of accounts from indviduals thrown together between two covers. It even has the feel of being hastily thrown together to meet a deadline. At first, that sounds good: eye-witness stories to the famous D-Day battle. What could be better than that? But I found it hard to get an impression of what was happening over all. One is not able to see the forest because of the trees. The individual stories jump from one place and time to another, seemingly without design. Ambrose himself provides little narrative binding to the stew. Each of the individual stories are told in their own words so there is no single narrative style from them and Ambrose has zero writing style so the book lacks not only a narrative thread and but a narrative style as well. In other words, it is not a good story. Ambrose does provide a reference to other historians of the battle and to those who enjoy reading accounts from people who were actually there. He displays the hard work and research required to dig up all those accounts. But he is not a good writer and there is no comprehensive picture of what happened that day but instead a hodgepodge of hundreds of different accounts. It's up to the reader to pull it all together. To better understand what happened that day and for a more literate and entertaining writing style I recommend trying other writers on the sunject.
Rating:
Summary: Blood Libel
Review: First I must say I am a genuine fan of the Late Mr Ambrose, his Band of Brothers and Pegasus Bridge are perhaps two of the finest books ever written on small unit actions. I will also say D-Day has some excellent interviews with these brave veterans. My dislike of this book has already been covered by others. Its total lack of any form of balance, its pathetic coverage of German motives; and most importantly its offensive and incorrect assertion that the British, Canadian and other Commonwealth troops were blundering [and] cowardly... I can only assume he got over it because his Pegasus Bridge is actually complimentary to the British Tommy. Others have already mentioned superbly his lies on stopping for tea, being "Gutless"; not mentioning the British and Commonwealth assault on Caen faced the heaviest defences (Logically since Caen was the main rail head for the whole of the Normandy area and the only way Germany could get their armour in) and many other ways in which he badmouths the British. I'd like to add some of my own to this long list - the illumination fact that when mentioning Naval Support he neglects to point out that the Naval landing craft on the US Beaches were British, That the majority of the screening vessels - Frigates, Destroyers were Royal Navy, and leaves you to work out that the Cruisers and Battleships were majority Royal Navy too. He also of course fails to mention the phenomenal RAF Typhoon ground attack aircraft that meant that the Armour US troops faced was heavily denuded. He hardly mentions the Poles, Czechs & Slovaks, Assies, NZers and Free French who also contributed to this monumental undertaking. I have absolutely no problem with Americans singing the praise and admiration for those brave boys who fought to liberate the world fron evil. I have a huge problem in them libeling equally brave soldiers who fought shoulder to shoulder. It's a shameful, verminous way to make money. If you want to know D-Day. ...
Rating: 
Summary: A Yoeman's Job ....
Review: A good book. Not great, Ambrose is not a great writer, but he does a very good job of giving you an overview of a huge event, and he does it in an interesting way that holds your attention. Isn't that what you want in a book when you don't know anything about a topic, or you know things about parts of it but now the whole thing? The complaints on the reviews here that the book is unfair to the british are ridiculous and smack of some wierd PC-ism. Over the course of the whole book, taken in whole, his treatment of the British is balanced and fair. Whether D-Day was or wasn't the "deciding" battle of WWII is not really relevant either. If it wasn't the deciding battle, it certainly was close to it. Without it, the war would not have ended and Germany could have concentrated it's forces against the Russians. But again, that isn't the point of the book so the criticism isn't necessary. And as for those that criticized the book as being American-centric. Is this a relevant criticism? This is a book written by an American, for a mass American audience, about an operation that was American led, and involved hundreds of thousands of Americans. Gee, making it American focused is downright silly when you look at it that way, right? A solid book. This plus Citizen Soldiers (his next book) gives one a great starting point in getting the full story on the war from Normandy to the surrender of Germany. There are many other great books on WWII, many better written than this. You want to find them? Ambrose lists many of them in his preface and at the end of the book. One last point. For those that feel Ambrose was somehow disgraced because in a few instances he credited a source in the back, but didn't use quotation marks in the text, that may be a strike against him in the minds of the egg head academics, but for the general reader, who cares? Just get on with the story, and in D-Day Ambrose does just that.
Rating:
Summary: A day to remember
Review: World War II is one of the most fascinating periods of US and world history. To me, war is one of the most intriguing aspects of human society. Enter, Stephen E. Ambrose's D-Day book. If you are looking for a real good book about one of the most pivotal points in history, then I doubt you could find much better. Ambrose takes you everywhere, from the generals to the privates, from the offices to the beaches. He does it very factually, while still keeping it interesting. You can learn so much about D-Day from this book and still just love it for the read. It is a truly terrific book.
Rating:
Summary: Common misconceptions with a touch of bias
Review: I am disapponited with this book. I must agree that the writings of Mr Ambrose do tend to be fanciful when extolling the vitues of the American war machine. I ask the question "How can you write an account of a battle when you write from one side's perspective?" This is one issue wherein Mr Ambrose falls down. Another is that he perpetuates various myths in the book which have proven to be incorrect eg the reason behind the delayed intro of the me262 and the alleged equipping of SS units with all the best equipment. His unhidden bias against the quality of the German troops is surprising - "And the Allied elite units,the airborne and Rangers and Commandos, were better than anything the Germans put into the field." I feel that perhaps patriotism has led to the writing of an unbalanced account of the battle. Whilst no-one will ever get it 100% "right", it gets a little tiring to read books such as this which are unbalanced and therefore disappointing when it comes to viewing this battle from an historical rather than patriotic viewpoint. Yes, the allies won the war, and the USA played a huge part in this. WE GET THE IDEA, GET OVER IT. For better accounts of this battle read texts by Hastings, Kershaw and Ryan. Whilst not as dramatic they are more balanced. Credit where due, "Pegasus Bridge" and "Band of Brothers" are well worth a look at. Perhaps Mr Ambrose's real talent lies in recounting small unit actions. Maybe one day he will write an account from an Axis unit's perspective. That would be quite an interesting read.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable
Review: The best book I have ever read. This book is definately a page turner. Not only is it packed of historic facts but contains some of the most heart wrenching stories ive ever read. After reading this book you will realize how much we owe the WWII generation. Buy this book!
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