Rating: 
Summary: Easy to Read - Keeps Attention
Review: If you have read any of Stephen Ambrose's works, and enjoy his style, then this book is your "cup of tea". For those new to his works, please understand the following.His works are lengthy and require a significant time investment. Similarly, his works are crammed with details - important to the story yet difficult, at times, to retain and use in subsequent sections and stories. His writings are infused with nationalistic zeal - almost jingoistic, at times. The imbedded personal stories - a theme in all of Ambrose's works - make real an otherwise antiseptic recounting of DDay. Students of DDay might want to avoid this book as it adds little to the "nuts and bolts" of the military operation. Those new to the subject of World War II, and/or DDay, might also want to avoid the book - Ambrose assumed, quite often, that his reader(s) had at least a perfunctory knowledge of the operation. DDay is an enjoyable read with great personal stories of triumph and tragedy. Ambrose has added detail from most sides of the conflict - Allies, Axis and civilian - to provide as complete a recount, as possible, of the operation that still denotes the high water mark of World War II.
Rating:
Summary: Not the most exciting read, but very informative
Review: Stephen Ambrose's D-Day will certainly go down as one of the best accounts of this very crucial day during the war. There is no doubt that Ambrose knows the subject very well and the book is packed with information. After watching Saving Private Ryan, I had a desire to learn more about D-Day and this book seemed like the logical choice to read. My knowledge about D-Day before was very basic and general, I just knew that Omaha Beach was the deadliest and that Eisenhower was the commander. That was it. Obviously, I walked away after reading this book with a much greater knowledge about June 6 and the circumstances around it and that is what made this book worthwhile. I gave it 4 stars because the book dragged at certain parts. I found the first half of the book (where Ambrose discusses the events leading up to June 6) alot more interesting actually than the last half of the book which talked about the actual landing. I also couldn't help but notice Ambrose's pro-American bias as he seemed to downplay the role of the British. Nevertheless, it was an overall good book and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the most important day in the 20th century.
Rating: 
Summary: D-Day, Or, How America Won The War
Review: As is common knowledge to everybody except those who were actually there, it was the glorious United States of America - and ONLY the United States of America - that won the Second World War II. That's not gung-ho fairy tales, kids. That's rootin'-tootin' FACT. If you think I'm full of it, then I recommend you take a look at this bloated offering by eminent (and also dead) Yankee historian Stephen Ambrose. Approximately 90% of the book is dedicated to repetitive and unenlightening (though, it must be said, utterly enthralling and devastating) GI recollections of the landings on Utah and Omaha, with very little attention paid to the other Allied operations on Gold, Juno or Sword, or in Normandy as a whole. Countless hundreds of thousands of British, Canadians, and yes, even Australian and New Zealand (though you would have been hard pressed to find more than a dozen of those fellows floating about) all did their part and, in many cases, paid the ultimate sacrafice on 6 June, 1944, but these courageous men and women hardly merit a mention in the eyes of Mr. Ambrose. This will not come as any surprise to those familiar with his other work, notably 'Band Of Brothers' and 'Citizen Soldiers'. After all, Stephen Ambrose was an American historian, and therefore, the bulk of his primary material would have been gleaned from American sources which, as we have seen recently, are very rarely critical of themselves. But some of his offhand comments are downright insulting, as when he postulates that the British essentially milled about drinking tea at their beaches. None of this is meant to be dismissive of the massive (though slightly delayed) contribution that America and American soldiers, sailors and airforcemen made to the invasion of Europe and eventual collapse of the Nazi Party. There is no question that they were a brave, hard-fighting lot, who paid with their lives so that the world could be free. Australia will forever be thankful to America for its help out here in the Pacific, in such engagements as Battle of the Coral Sea, in stemming and then turning back the Japanese marauders. Make no mistake, the USA and its men and women did their fair share in keeping the world safe. But they weren't the only ones, and it's a shame Ambrose seems to think that way. In the end, though, for Yank readers and assorted governing bodies, who seem a pretty self-congratulatory lot, this will no doubt be held high as first-class history for a long long time to come. But for everybody else, Stephen Ambrose's 'D-Day', as a history, is uneven at best and completely infuriating at worst. However, as a rollicking blockbuster airport novel that can be chewed down and then immediately tossed aside, you could certainly do a lot worse.
Rating: 
Summary: hmm d-day
Review: i heard that Mr Stephen E. Ambrose is one of the most regarded US historian so i picked some of his books like Eisenhower , citizen solider , D-day..... Now i know the reason why the American love him , honestly his style is fascinating , but Ambrose's books are just some cheap progandas , kind of novels than facts ,and deeply bias. D-Day is no exception .
and since this is one of the most bias book , i wonder can we believe the information it gave ?
Rating: 
Summary: d day by the hour
Review: very well placed acoount of d day
it really doesnt get any better than this
individual accounts make this invaluable and the photographs are excellent
Rating:
Summary: simply the best...
Review: Don't have much to say except that if you are into WW2 you cannot miss this book.
Stephen Ambrose is maybe one of the 5 best US historians and his collection of real stories told by real people make his books much more like novels than history books.
Just buy it, you will not regret it
Rating:
Summary: Freedom's Cost
Review: Stephen E. Ambrose's credentials as historian, researcher, and impeccable writer make him the right choice when it comes time to read a history of arguably the most momentous battle of all time. His rendering of D-Day, the June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France at the beaches of Normandy, is simply excellent. The book first provides some basic understanding of each side's situation in 1944. Preoccupied with the eastern front in Russia, Hitler knew that any invasion from the west had to be crushed at all cost, because Germany could not sustain a two-front war. He therefore devoted massive resources to the construction of the Atlantic Wall, a series of defenses along the French coast of the English Channel: razor wire, obstacles, mines, pillboxes, machine gun nests, tanks, mortars, and infantry. The Allies chose Eisenhower to lead their invasion of Europe. He believed this was an all-or-nothing proposition, and committed everything to it. He and his planners organized an amphibious assault of the beaches to deposit 175,000 men and materiel in France in one day. They knew going in that the operation had to succeed or an unprecedented disaster would result--including losing the war. With no way for the infantry to retreat off the beaches and return to the ships, or for the paratroopers and personnel-carrying gliders to climb back into the air, this was similar to Cortez burning his own ships and Grant flanking Vicksburg with no way for resupply. Survival depended solely on defeating the enemy. Thus the table was set for the largest do-or-die conflict in history. Next, Ambrose reveals the planning and preparations required to pull off an attack the enemy knew was coming. He explains in detail the vehicles, weaponry, and troop assignments. He also clearly explains the successful attempts to maintain the element of surprise. Hitler knew they were coming, but expected them at Calais, not Normandy--and he didn't know when they would come. The action begins with frustrating and nerve-wracking weather delays. Finally, taking advantage of a brief break in the weather, Ike gives the go-ahead. Thousands of ships cross the Channel. In the dark of night, paratroopers jump into France behind the lines. Gliders transport more troops to take key bridges. The Air Force strafes and bombs coastal installations in perhaps the largest air assault ever launched. Once within range, the Navy's big guns open up, trying to soften the German defenses. Then the small troop transports are launched toward various code-named and now-famous beaches, Utah, Sword, Omaha, Juno, and Gold. From here Ambrose focuses almost exclusively on action at Omaha Beach, where not a single plane-delivered bomb has hit a target. This is where the Allies have the toughest going. Using the words of survivors themselves, he poignantly moves the reader through the hellish hours as the first waves of young men are mowed down by the merciless fire from the bluffs above them. The book is fact-filled, yet easy to read. As the action intensifies, the non-fiction prose grows absolutely gripping. This is an unforgettable account that captures the terror, the carnage, the bravery, and--best of all--the sacrifice these young men made. Hurray. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of BIG ICE
Rating: 
Summary: Exciting, detailed, but...
Review: Now don't get me wrong, this is a fantastic account of the D-Day landings. Most books on this subject either lose sight of the big picture, or are so technical it's like reading a math book. But, as others have said, there are places were American bias leak out and snap you out of the sweeping saga of the greatest invasion in history. Fortuneately, they don't ruin the book outright, and Ambrose does give credit where it's due (especially once the invasion begins). I think it's safe to say that most people who know anything about WWII know that the British weren't poor, weak twits who just wanted to go home (Hello? Battle of Britian? Battle of the Atlantic? North Africa anyone?). Nor were the armies of German hugely inferior to the American ones (This critizism is especially puzzling due to the unrivaled sucess of the German armed forces). Such obvious digs are annoying, but give it a read anyway. It's remarkably fast paced, the describtions of battle and are both awe inspiring and terrifying; and the stories of individual bravery highlight the daring exploits of the Allied Expeditionary Force (yes you read correctly not just *gasp* American soldiers). We will always rememember you, loyal, brave, soldiers! 3 1/2 stars.
Rating:
Summary: An important book about an important day
Review: There are few days in a century that wind up being pivotal. D-Day is one of them. The book of the same name by Ambrose is an important book about that day. The focus of D-Day is certainly from the allied perspective and Ambrose's writing makes that clear. This is also forgivable because unlike many historians he has made good use of oral histories, which are primarily from American veterans (though there is certainly material from English and Germans also). The book is a good balance of what it took to accomplish the Normandy invasion on D-Day as well as the events of the day. It is a daunting book, the density of information for a singular day is amazing. You should let any worried pass you and pick up this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: Should be enough said. You'll hate to put it down. Ambrose has really done his homework.
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