D Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II

Great book and a must have for those who study WWII battles. Book arrived in great shape and on time.

I just got home from Normandy. 80 years latter. Reading this book and hearing the words of men who fought here is heartbreaking. Such a beautiful beach. 80 years latter, 2025, I saw more USA flags flying from French home than I ever see in the USA.

I've just starting getting into WWII history and have read a few books now to have a good overall understanding of the European campaign. Knowing that Ambrose is currently at the forefront of some of the recent historical books on WWII and after reading and enjoying Band of Brothers I decided to read D-Day and Citizen Soldiers. Overall I found D-Day to be an exicting and very informative text into the events that lead up to and occured on June 6, 1944. I mostly appreciated his attention to the events prior to the invasion day and the srategies that surrounded the operation to help make it successful. The text bogs down a bit in details surrounding the Omaha beach invasion but otherwise gives a good account of the entire day from the dropping of the paratroopers behind Utah to Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches. The text is most heavily weight on the paratrooper drop and the Omaha invasion but this is understandable as these were probably the more dramatics event that day on a grand scale. As for some of the criticism Ambrose takes for telling an over patriotic or revisionist history of D-Day, I don't think those accusations are fair. First off Ambrose is not writing a strictly unopinionated documentation of events; he is writing an account of history through the experiences of those who were there and formulates and interjects his opinions of what occured. this must be understood when reading this book. As for being too patriotic it must also be noted that this book is written from an allied perspective, and weighted heavily towards the american participation. Ambrose does mention from time to time the experiences of the German Army but the focus of this book is really to document the allied experience. As for his opinions on the war startegy, I believe he fairly criticizes and praises both sides and obviously the allies did present an heroic and strategic campaign because ultimately they did crack the Atlantic Wall and went on to liberate France and occupy Germany. Bottom line for me, a great book for an exciting and compelling read about one of the greatest invasion efforts in history.

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.

I feel like I just took a college course. The attention to detail was remarkable. Would recommend highly (kavitas husband walt)

I visited Normandy a month before the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. I bought Ambrose’s book a month before in preparation for the trip. Still, there is nothing more sobering than visiting the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. After many delays, on the 81st D-Day anniversary + 1 (07 JUN), I finished reading one of most incredible stories of military history. It is a riveting exploration of the experiences for so many … who fought and died that long day. If you are a slow reader as myself and enjoy reading the footnotes and skimming some of the chapter endnotes, (even though Ambrose offers several in-text maps) I recommend a more detailed D-Day invasion map and to consult the glossary in the back of the book to identify abbreviations and locate where the fighting was taking place.

Extremely detailed from both sides of the battle. A great read.Well worth the time.spent learning the acts of the heroes of that day.

Reasonable shipping, time no damage comprehensive book.

Otra muy buena recopilación sobre el dia-d. Si leyeron "band of brothers", este libro y "pegasus bridge" son el complemento perfecto. Facil de leer y con muy buena data! Otro Thumbs Up!

This book was great,i loved the way the author put it and i will read more books from this author

Fantastic read - struggled to put it down. To view D-Day on a unit by unit basis and the impact of survivors oral histories makes the whole thing so very real. For a non-fiction book, once I had finished this one I was itching to carry on reading about D-Day plus one and so on. Ambrose's writing style is excellent - I cannot fault it.

comme d'habitude un livre documenté et vivant;Stephen E. Ambrose est un formidable historien et un écrivain qui se lit avec plaisir

Best book about the turning point of WW2. Together with band of brothers and Pegasus bridge paints the whole picture of the invasion of Europe.