Rating: 
Summary: A Fascinating book but not unflawed
Review: This book is a tremendous read. The combat stories are horrendous and will make you appreciate what veterans have done for this country and for the world. The chapters on Omaha Beach are gorily fascinating and incredibly detailed. The continuous accounts from the soldiers that were there makes almost impossible to put down. Beware though that Ambrose gives short shrift to the British who must have been as important (if not more important) to the battle than the Yanks. I would have liked to see him give an equal account of what happened on Juno Beach and the British beaches just like he did for Omaha. He also draws the conclusion that German troops were inferior - very doubtful; just worn down and battered by the collective forces of the allies. All in all a tremendous experience to read the book, but readers need to take into account that it should have been written more objectively and accurately in a historic sense.
Rating: 
Summary: Readability 5, Historical objectivity 1 - Overall 3 stars
Review: An objective, analytical and comprehensive assessment of the military significance and impact of the allied landings in Normandy on June 6th 1944 is NOT what this book is about. The subtitle of the book ("The climatic battle of WWII") is simply wrong - there were many other battles with more military significane than D-Day. That said, this is an excellent read with lots of first hand accounts and anecdotes from the oral histories of the participants. It is a gripping account of the confusion, chaos and carnage that reigned on the invasion beaches. The chapters describing the 'Omaha' beach landings are graphic and bloody. A comment made in the book that "war is waste" is well illustrated in the detailed treatment given to the losses of men and material on Omaha. You can not help but shudder if you picture in your minds eye what one soldier saw that morning - "thousands of body parts lined the Omaha beach...floating heads, arms legs...that was the first wave of the 116th regiment." Or the other GI who after struggling ashore flung himself down, finding a place in a long line of 50 or so soldiers sensibly seeking shelter he thought) behind a sewall, only to discover with a shock that every single one of them was a deadman. The book is more like a novel or a screenplay. In fact the real 'Mrs Ryan' of "Saving Private Ryan" was actually a Mrs Niland who received her 3 telegrams on the same day advising of the deaths of her 3 sons. Another scene from the movie is based on the account of a soldier who when asked to lend assistance replied that he could not becasuse he did not know what to do with 'THIS'. This - being his severed left arm which he was carrying in his right hand. Overall the book depicts the humand drama of the day. There were some heroes and some cowards. There were mistakes made by the allies - naval friendly fire killed 64 soldiers in one incident and the airborne drops at night landed many paratroopers in flooded fields where some drowned or in towns where they were hung up in trees or buildings and shot on sight. The point the author wants to make he makes early on. Namely - It was the intense training that the allied soldiers were subjected that got them through during the crises of 'plans gone to hell'. The individual platoon and company commander used his initiative wheras the German soldier was frozen by his orders and rigid command structure. Also the deception plans played a major role in keeping the Germans off guard and giving the allies critical breathing room. If you can avoid getting upset over some of the other views that the author pushes repeatedly - 'the US GI's at Omaha won the day,''the British couldn't fight for an hour without stopping for tea'then the first hand accounts, excellent maps and overall readability makes it a book well worth picking up.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst book concerning D-Day ever.
Review: This book is full of flaws and lies, and is simply one of the worst books I ever read. If someone who knew nothing about D-Day read this book, they'd think D-Day was an all-American operation. Ambrose overlooks the fact that most of the troops who landed were British, as well as Canadian, French, Australian, Polish, the list goes on and on. And they made more progress and achieved more significant gains than the Americans (the Canadian forces advancesd the farthest inland on D-Day, twice as far as the US forces). Next, he compares the US army with the German army and concludes that the US army was not only better than the German army, but that the US army was the best army in the world. Uh-huh. I guess Steve didn't know that the British, Germans, Russians, and Japanese armies fought most of the war, and the Russians really won the war, and suffered the loss of over 20,000,000 people in the process. Also, the US army was only the 6th largest army in WW2 (very hard to believe but true). Ambrose than takes the time to mention how American soldiers were more couragous in battle than anyone else. Well, this is the point where I wanted to toss the book into the fireplace. D-Day was anything BUT the 'Climactic battle of World War 2'. The Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, and Kursk were the real turning points of World War 2. And Omaha beach, the 'fiercest battle of WW2' as Ambrose describes it, was nothing compared to Stalingrad, Kursk, Monte Cassino, Berlin, Leningrad, the list could go on and on. The Germans and Russians lost 3,000,000 soldiers and civilians killed at Stalingrad alone, compared to 5000 casualties suffered at Omaha. The book does have SOME good content, but the book is heavily flawed. Hopefully Ambrose by now realizes that America did not win the war, the ALLIES won the war. If you want a good book concerning D-Day, 'The Longest Day' is a better choice than this crummy book.
Rating: 
Summary: The Greates Account of D-Day
Review: From the moment I looked at the cover of this book I knew it was going to be good. But I later found out this book was more then just good it was GREAT. It gave such a detailed and precise account of the most important day of the 20th century. I don't know about some of these reviews but I believe this a most read book for anyone intersted in D-Day or WWII.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed Account by Ambrose
Review: This study of D-Day has its moments. Ambrose is a well known historian and his descriptions of individual soldiers' doings on D-Day are well-told and interesting. However, in my opinion, Ambrose fumbles the ball big time when he tries to explain that the U.S. army was better than its German opponent, and for that matter, better than any other army fighting the war. He tries to contradict the commonly held view that Germany was not overwhelmed by superior numbers and firepower. That's an incredible arguement to make given that the Wehrmacht was outnumbered, had lost control of the air and was even victimized by the allies' secret ultra intercepts. Amazingly, Ambrose then goes on to contradict himself by describing a U.S. destroyer off shore firing on a single German artillery spotter. Imagine that, a warship's battery firing on just one guy. If that's not overwhelming firepower, I don't know what is. So, read this book for its individual accounts of combatants' exploits, but Ambrose's strategic analyses can't be taken seriously.
Rating:
Summary: The tin of Spam that won the war
Review: This is probably the worst non-Soviet account of an historical event I have ever read. From the nonsense on the cover 'The climactic battle of World War II', to the dismissal of the majority of troops involved (they were British), the lack of a proper set of appendices containing such basics as an order of battle for both sides this book displays a close-to-Stalinist attitude towards the truth. Whether the 'climactic battle of the war' was Stalingrad, Kursk, the defence of Moscow, the battle of the Atlantic or even the Battle of Britain, it certainly wasn't the botched landings at Omaha beach. This book insults not only the majority of soldiers who were there by ignoring them, it also makes wierd and wild assertions. For example, it comes as something of a surprise to discover that the B-26 was the weapon that won the war, once again, I should have thought this was a contest between the T-34 tank, Alan Turing's Bombes or even the product of the Manhattan project. Frankly this is a tacky and disreputable piece of work. It's so poorly put together that the index references are generally incorrect - there are said to be references to the B-26 on pages 241, 242-3, 245, 247, 248, 250 and 253. The B-26 is mentioned on 241, 242, 243, 244, 246 and 248. There were plenty of brave Americans at D-Day, there were many more brave British, Canadian, Australian, Polish and other soldiers. There were also Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mosquitos - which are not mentioned even once. This is a crummy piece of work, and says very little for the academic standards of the University of New Orleans, or the editors at Simon and Schuster. No doubt the author's next work will tell us how a tin of Spam, canned in Peoria, was the reason that the siege of Leningrad failed.
Rating:
Summary: "climactic" invites comparison
Review: S. Ambrose' book "D-Day June 6,1944 etc..." is a 1960s-style "Hurray for the USA" description of D-Day. It combines the right amount of grim fact, heroic adventure and personal narrative to make the reader feel the United States won WW2 on D-Day and specifically on Omaha beach. The book is kind of like a movie where you know the good guys will eventually triumph over extreme adversity- and Ambrose literally means "good" guys. U.S. soldiers in this book can do no wrong. They are uniformly courageous,full of low-key "aw shucks " patriotism and able to seize the initiative with typical American "can do"ism. The problem with this sort of "history" is that it invites comparison, especially when the words "climactic battle of WW2" are in the title. Does Ambrose really mean that D-Day and specifically the 5,000 casualty battle at Omaha beach can be compared to Stalingrad with its 1,000,000 casualties or the panzer-killing Battle of Kursk or even the Battle of Berlin? For the Germans the war in the East was life or death. Even someone with a cursory knowledge of WW2 knows the ground war in Europe was mostly fought and won by the Soviets. D-Day was an important operation but a comparatively small battle (fortunately for the Allies) with the Germans often using second-line convalescent troops (stomach divisions, etc.) The other comparison the author invites is that between the soldiers of various countries. This book makes it seem that American soldiers were the most ingenious, courageous, and heroic. This doesn't stand up to historical facts or even statistics. No historian I know of has faulted either the Germans or Soviets (or British for that matter) for lack of courage; and the Soviets in fact counted on the suicidal courage of their soldiers throughout the war. As far as armies go- the Wehrmacht was the best ever. Their ratio of sustained to inflicted casualties in a major war is unbeaten. The sad truth is that combat makes heroes of all the participants, even the "bad guys". Notoriety overwhelms fact. Calling D-Day the climactic battle of WW2 is like calling the St. Valentines Day Massacre the Worst Crime in History. TV and movies seem to confirm it, but it just ain't so. This book would have been more appropriately titled- "D-Day-The Most Famous American Battle of WW2". By the use of anecdote and testimonial the author tries to make the universal experience of combat specifically American. The Americans were heroic, but not alone in their heroism. Read this book for fun, but don't believe the title.
Rating:
Summary: Stirring account of D-Day!
Review: Stephen Ambrose has truly worked his literary magic once again. This work is a pleasure to read and one of several that's hard to put down upon opening the first page. The accounts, coupled with a smattering of reflections helps the reader move back in time to that fateful day. This mirrored with personal insight adds a nice touch to the book. I highly recommend this book for fellow students and enthusiasts of WWII. By putting forth his best efforts Mr. Ambrose has helped preserve the history of D-day. Well done!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Very sobering and realistic view of D-Day. Typical Ambrose
Rating:
Summary: Needs an editor
Review: I'm not an editor, but I suppose that an author of Mr. Ambrose's experience and stature eventually becomes to self assured to listen to his/her editors, and that is really too bad. I enjoyed his earlier book Citizen Solders but found it riddled with repetition: the author would tell you something then repeat the same fact within a page or two. This book was much worse than that. I repeatedly found myself reading facts that had just been imparted to me a page or even a couple paragraphs earlier, which was irritating and interrupted the story itself. Ambrose frequently takes naturally dramatic and suspenseful scenes and inserts himself into them by commenting on their significance, again, telling you something you already knew just a page or two earlier and editorializing about the significance of the scene rather than allowing the writing to stand on it's own. I came away from this book dissatisfied and disappointed that I had wasted my money on a book about subject I had some interest in. The author is always clumsily present, in spite of his heavy reliance on the oral histories of the men (and women) themselves. Altogether, this looks like a second draft rather than a finished effort.
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