1944: The Climactic Battle of WW II, D-Day: June 6

In preparation for a trip to Normandy, I read this cover to cover. Ambrose offers amazing insights and his exhaustive research is without rival. Simply in awe of the bravery of the men who fought on D-Day.

Unlike one previous review, this book is excellent quality at a good price. Also, it certainly is not just a table top book without much more than the basic story. It contains a great deal of interesting detail about the planning and strategies behind D-Day as well as heart-wrenching and heart-warming personal stories that make it difficult to put down. A great read.

I have always thought that "The Longest Day" was the best book written about D-Day. Possibly about the planning and time leading up to D-Day. This book has to be the best about all the different beaches attacked. My father landed at Omaha and this book told me the story that he never would tell. I highly recommend this book.

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!

I had just visited Normandy and wanted to know more about the battle and this book gave me all the information I needed. As always Stephen Ambrose captures the battle in a way that you think you were there. Informative and an easy read.

A great blow by blow account including the huge amount of planning and preparation involved. A compilation of historical recount and direct observation from many interviews. Those direct observations made it very personal and all the more compelling. Ambrose doesn't pull any punches on the mistakes in planning and execution by all those involved. A great read and I wish I had the luxury of being able to read it in one sitting.

4 stars just because it can be a slog at times with all the acronyms and military terms. Needs maps in every chapter to refer to. Some great pictures though.

Having just returned from a "Bucket List" trip to Normandy to see the D Day landing beaches for myself, I believe that Ambrose caught the true spirit and accurately described in detail the chronology of what took place hour by hour on June 6th, 1944 at H-hour on the beaches of Normandy, France. It was heart rending and emotionally overwhelming as one reads descriptions of the individual stories of the cream of American Youth that were slaughtered on that stormy morning of the landing. Visiting the American Cemetery at Normandy and seeing the row after rows of 9,600 American soldiers that were killed on the beaches of Utah and Omaha beaches that morning and are now laying at rest, bring Ambrose's D Day narrative to life and may help the reader to understand the magnitude of their sacrifice.

Having just returned from a "Bucket List" trip to Normandy to see the D Day landing beaches for myself, I believe that Ambrose caught the true spirit and accurately described in detail the chronology of what took place hour by hour on June 6th, 1944 at H-hour on the beaches of Normandy, France. It was heart rending and emotionally overwhelming as one reads descriptions of the individual stories of the cream of American Youth that were slaughtered on that stormy morning of the landing. Visiting the American Cemetery at Normandy and seeing the row after rows of 9,600 American soldiers that were killed on the beaches of Utah and Omaha beaches that morning and are now laying at rest, bring Ambrose's D Day narrative to life and may help the reader to understand the magnitude of their sacrifice.

Despite what some reviewer said,this book is well produced. And most importantly the photos are mostly new ones, not a rehash of the stock D-Days pics most books have. I have an extensive D-Day library and many of these images are new to me. I had the original book and lost it(don't loan books to co-workers!), so decided to replace it with this edition. It was a wise decision. The late Stephen Ambrose would be proud of this edition.

This book is poorly written. It gives no satisfying narrative, neither from the perspective of grand strategy nor from the perspective of the soldiers on the ground. It bounces from one soldier to another, with small quotations that are hardly memorable. The personal accounts are repetitive, yet the over-all story is less than the sum of its parts. Ryan's "Longest Day" is vastly superior.

The book gave a very descriptive picture of the horrors and heroism that took place during the battle of D-Day. For those who are interest in World War II, this account of the battle for winning the war will truly be very satisfying.

This book reads like a novel rich with characters, stories and details. It's a long, dragging read at times - more than 600 pages. While I enjoyed it tremendously, so much I purchased it for my library, it's not a quick read.

Just returned from Normandy France for the 70th anniversary of D-Day with my Uncle Bill who went into Omaha Beach on D-Day+1.
It was the most wonderful experience of my life!! This book was and is great for history and personal experiences.

Stephen Ambrose uses numerous, numerous, numerous first hand interviews and accounts of the events leading up to D-Day and on D-Day itself to convey what it was truly like to be there on that fateful June 6th day in 1944. Ambrose does an admirable job at putting the reader in the shoes of those who were there, giving various examples of how difficult and bloody a day it was for Allies and Germans alike, and shows how tough the soldiers were at getting their tasks done despite a horrific setting of battle.

This book is not a definitive history of D-Day, as Ambrose does not discuss the various plans and strategies, tactics, etc, that went into each beach and D-Day itself totally in depth. He does a fairly good job of broadly discussing these, but not in depth as some have went on the topic of D-Day. As stated earlier, he tends to focus more on first hand accounts of soldiers who were there, which can honestly get old after the first few dozen, as you find yourself asking yourself, "so this guy did this" and then 40 pages later "is this the same guy as earlier, I'm not sure because Ambrose has talked about 30 other guys since then" and this puts one like myself, who is a history major, and loves WWII, as sometimes confused. If it confuses me as far as him jumping around excessively, it will likely confuse others, so just a fair warning.

That said, good book, not great like Band of Brothers in my humble opinion, but a solid, good read about D-Day. I would recommend Ryan's "The Longest Day" or Antony Beevor's "D-Day" over Ambrose's though, both mix first hand accounts in with the overall strategy of the day, etc. They are much less confusing and smoother reads...but if you enjoy WWII history, pick up Ambrose's as well, its a fairly good read. I read Citizen Soldiers as well, and its comparable to this book, solid, good book, but not clear at times on the overall history and whats going on strategy wise, but Ambrose never meant for them to be that so I digress.