Product Description

Stephen E. Ambrose, one of the finest historians of our time, has written an extraordinary chronicle of World War II for young readers. From Japanese warplanes soaring over Pearl Harbor, dropping devastation from the sky, to the against-all-odds Allied victory at Midway, to the Battle of the Bulge during one of the coldest winters in Europe's modern history, to the tormenting decision to bomb Nagasaki and Hiroshima with atomic weapons, The Good Fight brings the most horrific -- and most heroic -- war in history to a new generation in a way that's never been done before.

In addition to Ambrose's accounts of major events during the war, personal anecdotes from the soldiers who were fighting on the battlefields, manning the planes, commanding the ships -- stories of human triumph and tragedy -- bring the war vividly to life.

Highlighting Ambrose's narrative are spectacular color and black-and-white photos, and key campaign and battlefield maps. Stephen E. Ambrose's singular ability to take complex and multifaceted information and get right to its essence makes The Good Fight the book on World War II for kids.Amazon.com Review
Packed with photos (color and black-and-white), maps, personal stories, and concise, readable descriptions of the major events of World War II, bestselling author Stephen E. Ambrose's The Good Fight is a stunning resource for students of history. Though this horrific war has been written about innumerable times over the last half-century, this chronicle for young readers (14 and older) is one of the most vivid, insightful, and straightforward perspectives around. Ambrose pulls no punches. In the first paragraph of his introduction, he reminds us that "more people were killed, more houses, apartment buildings, factories, bridges, and other works of man were destroyed than ever before or since." From Hitler's rise to power to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor to the air war over Europe to the War Crimes Trials, the major events of the war are thoughtfully examined and depicted.

Each chapter features one of the most important campaigns, players, situations, or battles, with a full-page, often chilling photograph covering half the two-page spread and inset photos on the narrative page as well. Quick Facts boxes appear in every chapter to highlight interesting and relevant details. Large campaign and battlefield maps are interspersed throughout. Readers will come away with a painfully real sense of what life was like in the 1930s and '40s for the soldiers, families, women workers (Rosie the Riveter is included, of course), heroes, and victims of this most devastating, cruel war. (Ages 14 and older) --Emilie Coulter ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Shameless American propaganda
Classic example of shameless American Propaganda.
American contribution in winning World War II is between 25%-50%, opinions may vary, but this book claims 100%.
Wow

Too narrow in scope and too patriotic in tone.
This book is not an introduction to WWII history. It is a patriotic guide to American victories in WWII. It starts at 1941, skipping the first 4 years of fighting in China and 2 years in Europe. It does not bother with the few setbacks the US experienced nor the early deficiencies in US military organizations and equipments. It has no in-depth analysis into how the battles were fought and why the outcomes came about the way they did. In short, it is a piece of triumphal propaganda.

Knowing that this book was meant for kids, I did not really expect an objective and comprehensive work of history. I thought it would suffice for my eight-year-old, who is a real WWII buff. Well, he read the first few pages and began to flip through the rest. He then looked up to me and said, "This book sucks. It is for babies!" Fortunately, I had War in European History on the shelf. He was satisfied.

happy customer
The book was shipped on time and the condition as described. I would gladly use this seller again in the future.

Praise to Stephen E. Ambrose
Are you looking for a short history book but has loads of information? If you're interested in WWII I would suggest the book: THE GOOD FIGHT-How WWII was won by: Stephen Ambrose. It may look like a boring history book on the outside but the info is numerous! It tells you of the origins of WWII in Europe and in Asia and tells you the most confidential secrets of WWII - like the Atomic bomb. Britain's secret service to locate enemy positions. And, did you know Rosenthal's picture of the flag raising on Mt Suribachi was the 2nd one? The first one was too small to be seen on the beach. The flag raisers are: Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousely, John Bradley, Harlon Block, Mike Strank and Rene Gagnon. There are many other facts you would want to know too. Whenever I need a short book, I always have The Good fight around for me to read. I recommend this book to all Ages (even my 8 year old sister reads it a lot). Another praise to the famous Stephen Ambrose! I give this Book 5 stars.

The good fight - how world war ii was won
Purchased as a gift - person likes the works and is quite a history buff. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Changed my opinion of Ike
Ambrose is a legendary historian, and this 1984 biography is a true masterpiece.I loved this book from the very first page, and one of the main reasons is because although Ambrose truly likes Eisenhower and the enthusiasm comes through in the text, he doesn't let that get in the way of being objective and even critical at times.

At the foundation to the book is obviously a high level of research.Many of the documents from the Eisenhower administration weren't declassified until the late 70's, so Ambrose was able to incorporate them here for the first time.He includes dozens of excellent photos and even some political cartoons from the time that augment the solid narrative.

The result is a smart yet easy-to-read page-turner that really makes me feel as if I know this man who was president before I was born.And I can tell you that it wasn't long before Ambrose's sympathetic writing style had me rooting for Ike.

As a side note, I bought a later book by Ambrose, the 1991 condensed volume "Eisenhower: Soldier and President (The Renowned One-Volume Life)."Same author and same subject, but I just couldn't get into it.

A first-rate biography, volume 2
In this book, Ambrose follows up on his biography of Dwight Eisenhower.The first book dealt with the sixty-two years of Eisenhower's life before he became president.This volume deals with the last seventeen years of his life, focusing particularly on his eight years as President.

It is clear that Ambrose likes Eisenhower, but he nonetheless is critical of Eisenhower when it is appropriate.If one of the lessons of the first book is how politics can have a negative effect on a principled man, the main lesson in this one is how moderation is both a virtue and a vice.

For Eisenhower, it is a virtue when he besieged by extremists within his own party who are all too willing to use nuclear weapons and it is he who stays a middle course. As moderation's negative image, hesitancy, however, it is a vice as he fails to take on McCarthy or segregation.As one of the most continuously popular presidents in history, Ike could have done more in these areas.

Overall, however, Eisenhower comes off as a President whose accomplishments are generally underrated.Ike himself generally comes off as a good person, honest and intelligent, with a vision of a better America that many would agree with, one without the threat of nuclear war.

There are a couple little errors in the book and its predecessor, but that doesn't take away from this volume's high caliber.This is a great biography, well written, detailed and always interesting.

An Able President for the High Cold War
This is the second of a two-volume biography of Dwight Eisenhower, the great World War II military administrator who was elected president in 1952 without any experience in elective office and served two full terms, one of only five presidents in this century to do so.Author Stephen Ambrose, whose Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 became a bestseller just days after it was published last August, writes authoritatively here about a president whom he clearly admires.This is a comprehensive study of an eight-year period which is sometimes portrayed as a mid-20th century era of good feelings.As Ambrose ably demonstrates, it was, in fact, a period marked by frequent international crises, as well as by strong undercurrents of change in American life, most notably in the area of civil rights.

The Cold War was at its height in the 1950s, and Ambrose devotes a great detail of space to diplomatic and military affairs.According to Ambrose, Eisenhower intended to "continue the policies of containment, foreign aid, and Europe first," but opposition to Eisenhower's program came most frequently from within his own party, beginning with battles over Eisenhower's appointees to key State Department positions at the beginning of his first term.Some of the most interesting passages in this book involve Ambrose's presentation of the frequent conflicts between the moderate Eisenhower Republicans and the "Old Guard," which was practically hysterical in its opposition to the threat posed by international Communism, real and supposed.Ambrose's discussion of Eisenhower's consistent opposition to increased military spending is fascinating.This is one area in which Eisenhower displayed real leadership, even when the president's position was not popular.By1960, one important issue was whether Richard Nixon and John Kennedy would spend more on national defense.(Ambrose makes clear Eisenhower's disappointment with the choice the American people were offered in that election: Eisenhower, one of the giants of World War II, would have to turn over executive power at the height of the Cold War to a former junior officer, either Nixon or Kennedy.)In his Farewell Address, Eisenhower warned of the dangers posed by the creation of a military-industrial complex.Only a president with Eisenhower's impeccable military credentials could credibly have said that.Ambrose leaves no doubt about Eisenhower's determination to decrease international tensions, especially in Europe, and most especially the threat of nuclear war.For the most part, Eisenhower's management of the frequent international crises during his administration was deft.

One Republican with whom Eisenhower publicly refused to dispute was Sen. Joseph McCarthy.According to Ambrose, one of Eisenhower's reasons for avoiding conflict with the notorious witch-hunter was personal: "I just won't get into a pissing contest with that skunk." But Ambrose also writes: "Eisenhower was more on McCarthy's side than not on the issue of Communism in government.It was McCarthy's methods he disapproved of, not his goals or his analysis."Ambrose concludes: "Eisenhower's cautious, hesitant approach - or nonapproach - to the McCarthy issue did the President's reputation no good, and much harm."

Eisenhower also was often criticized for presiding over a British-style cabinet government in which he purportedly delegated too much responsibility to his department heads.Ambrose makes clear that Eisenhower was keenly interested in the big issues facing the State, Defense, and Treasury departments, but the record presented here indicates that Eisenhower had much less interest in domestic affairs.The creation of the interstate highway system probably was the principal domestic achievement of the Eisenhower administration.

Civil rights was an issue which begged for presidential leadership. Eisenhower rightly deserves credit for appointing Earl Warren Chief Justice of the United States, and Warren, of course, presided over the unanimous 1954 decision declaring separate-but-equal public education systems to be unconstitutional.But Ambrose makes clear that, except on the issue of voting rights, Eisenhower refused to be pushed into the forefront in civil rights.Eisenhower was a product of the late-19th century (he was born in 1890), and this is one area in which he failed to grow as president.On occasion, according to Ambrose, Eisenhower could be "bumbling" and "ineffective."With regard to civil rights, Eisenhower simply failed to lead.According to Ambrose: "In the field of civil rights, [Eisenhower] felt he had done as well as could be done." The judgment of history disagrees.

Ambrose makes very effective use of primary sources, including Eisenhower's diaries.The text includes numerous references to Eisenhower's assessments of colleagues and subordinates, political rivals, other public figures international leaders, and some of them are cutting.Although Nixon loyally served as Eisenhower's vice president for eight years, they never were close, and Eisenhower was not enthusiastic about Nixon's candidacy in 1960.During that campaign, when Nixon was trying to make the most of his experience as vice president, Eisenhower told a reporter it would take him a week to think of a major contribution Nixon had made to the administration.But if Nixon had followed Eisenhower's advice and had refused to debate Kennedy, he might well have been elected in 1960.

Ambrose may admire his subject too much.To cite just one example, although Ambrose writes that "friends as well as critics worried about how unprepared [Eisenhower] was for the presidency," the author, himself, asserts that, in foreign affairs, Eisenhower "was undoubtedly the best prepared man ever elected to the Presidency."But I believe Ambrose is correct when he observes at the beginning of his chapter assessing the Eisenhower presidency: "To say that Eisenhower was right about this or wrong about that is to do little more than announce one's own political position."That is Ambrose's justification for examining Eisenhower's years in the White House "in his own terms."

When this book was published in 1984, Ambrose predicted: Eisenhower's "reputation is likely to continue to rise, perhaps to the point that he will be ranked just below Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt."I am skeptical that history ever will be that kind to Eisenhower.Ambrose writes that, by November 1952, Eisenhower had come to actively dislike Harry Truman" because "in Eisenhower's view Truman had diminished the prestige of the office of the President of the United States."Even Eisenhower's critics, and there remain plenty of them, must concede, based upon the record presented by authors such as Ambrose, that he conducted the duties of the presidency with great dignity. And that places him far above some of his successors.The two-volume Ambrose biography of Eisenhower is now out of print, having been superceded by this author's Eisenhower: Soldier and President and more recent works of scholarship.But Eisenhower, Volume Two, The President, continues to have value as a highly-detailed account of the administration of a president who may, indeed, have been under-appreciated.Ambrose is partial to his subject, but he generally allows Eisenhower's actions to speak for themselves, and I do not believe that a reader may ask much more from a biographer. ... Read more

Product Description
Even fifteen years after the end of the Cold War, it is still hard to grasp that we no longer live under its immense specter. For nearly half a century, from the end of World War II to the early 1990s, all world events hung in the balance of a simmering dispute between two of the greatest military powers in history. Hundreds of millions of people held their collective breath as the United States and the Soviet Union, two national ideological entities, waged proxy wars to determine spheres of influence–and millions of others perished in places like Korea, Vietnam, and Angola, where this cold war flared hot.

Such a consideration of the Cold War–as a military event with sociopolitical and economic overtones–is the crux of this stellar collection of twenty-six essays compiled and edited by Robert Cowley, the longtime editor of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History. Befitting such a complex and far-ranging period, the volume’s contributing writers cover myriad angles. John Prados, in “The War Scare of 1983,” shows just how close we were to escalating a war of words into a nuclear holocaust. Victor Davis Hanson offers “The Right Man,” his pungent reassessment of the bellicose air-power zealot Curtis LeMay as a man whose words were judged more critically than his actions.

The secret war also gets its due in George Feiffer’s “The Berlin Tunnel,” which details the charismatic C.I.A. operative “Big Bill” Harvey’s effort to tunnel under East Berlin and tap Soviet phone lines–and the Soviets’ equally audacious reaction to the plan; while “The Truth About Overflights,” by R. Cargill Hall, sheds light on some of the Cold War’s best-kept secrets.

The often overlooked human cost of fighting the Cold War finds a clear voice in “MIA” by Marilyn Elkins, the widow of a Navy airman, who details the struggle to learn the truth about her husband, Lt. Frank C. Elkins, whose A-4 Skyhawk disappeared over Vietnam in 1966. In addition there are profiles of the war’s “front lines”–Dien Bien Phu, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Bay of Pigs–as well as of prominent military and civil leaders from both sides, including Harry S. Truman, Nikita Khrushchev, Dean Acheson, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Richard M. Nixon, Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, and others.

Encompassing so many perspectives and events, The Cold War succeeds at an impossible task: illuminating and explaining the history of an undeclared shadow war that threatened the very existence of humankind.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Incomplete and ultimately biased
This book disappointed me and I agree with the other reviewers who say it is incomplete and too heavily focused on Korea and Vietnam. Even beyond that, the selection and content of the essays is negative to the point of bias against the US--I do not agree with the reviewer who says the theme is "America won." To the contrary, many of the essays go out of their way to point out alleged American errors of diplomacy and military action, and ignores significant American steps that led to success, such as Reagan's decision at Reykjavik not to compromise on SDI. While the book is framed as a military history, it does discuss arms treaties and the importance of missile technology (and limitations thereon) to the Cold War; not to mention Reagan's role in structuring the limitations talks is a non-trivial oversight. Further, there is nothing about submarine warfare or undersea cable tapping, Grenada, Afghanistan, Uganda, Nicaragua or other East-West proxy wars, the terror caused by Soviet projection of military power (e.g., Hungary 1956), the Walker Navy spy ring, military uses of cryptography, or other important areas. If you want to read about American errors in Vietnam, buy the book, but otherwise look for a more complete and balanced account of the whole conflict.

Limited scope...
The quality of the individual articles is very high.As a collection, however, something is lacking.A better title would have been, "The Vietnam and Korean Wars with Bonus Material".Such huge portion of the book is dedicated to southeast Asia that one would think it was heart of the Cold War.I find it amazing there isn't a single article on Afghanistan (heck, he could have even have put in the Vietnam section that dominates the book and called the chapter "Russia's Turn").In fact, the word Afghanistan doesn't even appear in the entire text.Not a word on the wide variety of surrogate wars fought in the Americas or the Middle East either.

Another flaw is that the introductory pages to each article written by the editor add almost nothing to the text.The articles would stand better on their own.

So basically I'd give the articles five stars.I'd give the editing/collation perhaps two stars.I gave it four overall because the bulk of what your read is very good and I'll give credit where credit is due.Nonetheless, the narrow scope of the collection and the poor quality of the editor's introductions is annoying.

interesting but unsatisfying
there are a number of vignettes in this book that are interesting, however the general tone of the book is very America centric, perhaps with an underlying tone of "we won", which detracts from those essays that are more balanced. Generally this was unsatisfying, frustrating eneough to write this review, as although the better essays are quite good, overall there is a lack of substance.

However, the title is a tad misleading .

Excellent but Incomplete
The book is a series of articles by many prominent modern historians and it begins at the beginning (a very good place to start) of the Cold War with an article entitled, "The Day the War Started."

Unfortunately, the book essentially ends in the early 1980s with, "The War Scare of 1983."What this means is the book does not consider the last years of the Cold War or how it ended.Another missing piece is that, other than the first series of articles on the war's beginnings and the more well known aspects of the Cold War such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and Berlin, the focus of the book is on the Korean and Vietnam Wars.It ignores other aspects of the Cold War such as our military involvement in Central America throughout the 1980s, the whole issue of brush fire wars in Europe's former colonies in which one side or the other was supported by the US or USSR, and the bipolarization of mid-level conflicts, such as in the Middle East, where, again, the US and USSR supported opposing sides.These missing aspects are not trivial in the context of the Cold War.

Having said that, I'm glad I bought the book, and I've already recommended it to others.It's impossible to not get a lot out of a book that includes articles by the likes of Williamson Murray, John F. Guilmartin, Jr., Douglas Porch, Stephen E. Ambrose, Victor David Hanson, and far more.But, in the end, it is incomplete - hence the three stars.

The Military History of a Time of Peace, Unless You Were There
From the end of the Second World War until the collapse of the Soviet Union almost a half century later the two major powers in the world faced a kind of war. It was called the cold war because not much fighting occurred. To be sure, there was some in places like Korea, Viet Nam and Afghanistan. And there were some time where the two superpowers faced each other over loaded weapons such as Berlin and Cuba. But all in all, this was the longest time since the Roman Empire that the two strongest countries on the globe didn't go to war.

During much of this time the Military History Quarterly has provided a venue for the most prominent historians of our time to present articles on points of history as it was being lived. Robert Cowley is the founding editor of MHQ. In this volume he has selected articles from the Cold War period that serve to be a history of the Cold War written as it happened. The authors include some of the most prominent historians of that time, and some others that are not so well known but who provide an insight into the times. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (99)

Superb story for understanding the true meaning of the word endurance
This amazing story really illustrates well what it means to endure, and to persevere.Written in 1955, it is deservedly attracting new attention, probablay because David Brooks recommended it.

The vintage story reads like adrenaline-infused fiction!
"We Die Alone" had been on my "To Read" shelf for ohh... about 10 years! I originally pulled the title from a National Geographic list of the Top 100 Adventure Stories. I think I took a pass on it because of the desperate title. "We Die Alone" sounds like such a guy-guy, survival book cliche'! I can just picture the park bench conversation, "Hey Dave, what'cha reading?" With my brow furrowed, I'd grit my teeth and half whisper, half growl, "...WE DIE ALONE!!!" Please don't let the blunt title fool you, this book is the real deal. The vintage story reads like adrenaline-infused fiction. It starts out as a sparse, suspenseful WW2 commando mission and turns into an incredible arctic survival story. The majority of this well documented and well told tale follows a desperate and stricken commando as he attempts to be carried by sympathizers across Norway's forsaken snow plateaus to neutral Sweden. Near Perfect, 5-Stars! The fifth star is for the timeless prose. As you fly through this white-knuckler you would never guess it was written in 1955.

An epic true tale
We die alone is about a botched allied operation to plantNorwegian commandos trained by the SOE to go into German occupied Norway and to send radio messages and do sabotage missions. On the way German forces find out what they are planning to do and a German ship destroys their small fishing vessel and kills everyone but Jan Baalsrud. Jan swims a shore in below freezing conditions and shoots and kills a few german soldiers. The adventure continues when Jan is must contact villagers, must ski many miles under German Control, must avoid German controls, must cut of his own toes, lives in a foxhole fore almost a month in freezing conditions and must avoid falling of mountains due to snow blindness. THis is an amazing true story. the authors tells the story and makes you feel like you are truly there. This is a great read

Escape drama between fjords of Norway.
This book has still being printed after 55 years! How brave, resourceful and dedicated were those who eventually saved Jan's life! Today they are not among living and I express total homage to their heroic efforts. Engrossing story that will keep you thinking about life and death long after reading it.
Book does not contain maps of places and route of Jan's movement from island to island and from village to village till the border with Sweden. This is a drawback, but I was able to google it base on mentioned names of dwellings.

Inspiring Adventure!
As humans we consistently underestimate our own capacities.This story illustrates this misconception.

Set in WWII, the book tells the story of Jan Baalsrud, a Norwegian who after receiving training in Britain attempted to return to Norway to undermine the German occupation of his homeland.Intercepted by the Germans before they even were able to unload their cargo (in disguise as a fishing vessel) Jan was the only of his team to evade capture, escape to neutral Sweden and ultimately go back to Britain.

Although he was injured in his escape, Jan is able to seek out help and evade capture as he makes his way towards freedom.Ultimately, Jan's condition deteriorates and he is forced to rely on others to carry him to his final destination.Those assisting him take on great risk to themselves and their families as they hide him and provide what care they can.Jan is frequently required to spend extended periods of time both alone and exposed to the Arctic elements, isolated from those assisting him and unsure of their status or even eventual return.

An inspiring story of not only a man surviving the seemingly impossible (Jan lost half his bodywieght in the ordeal), but also those who had little to gain risking it all to save this one man. ... Read more

Product Description

From the author of Undaunted Courage and D-Day comes this celebration of male friendship, taken both from the pages of history and from Ambrose's own life.

Acclaimed historian Stephen Ambrose begins his examination with a glance inward -- he starts this book with his brothers, his first and forever friends, and the shared experiences that join them for a lifetime, overcoming distance and misunderstandings. He writes of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had a golden gift for friendship and who shared a perfect trust with his younger brother Milton in spite of their apparently unequal stations. With great feeling, Ambrose brings to life the relationships of the young soldiers of Easy Company who fought and died together from Normandy to Germany, and he describes with admiration three who fought in different armies on different sides in that war and became friends later. He recounts the friendships of Lewis and Clark and of Crazy Horse and He Dog, and he tells the story of the Custer brothers who died together at the Little Big Horn.

Comrades concludes with the author's moving recollection of his own friendship with his father. "He was my first and always most important friend. I didn't learn that until the end, when he taught me the most important thing, that the love of father-son-father-son is a continuum, just as love and friendship are expansive."Amazon.com Review
This tender book about male friendship will probably surprise those readers who know Stephen Ambrose best for his histories of World War II and biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Born in 1936, Ambrose acknowledges in the introduction to his memoir that men of his generation do not speak or write easily about their feelings. Yet male bonding is a strong theme in all of his work, as selections from previous writings on Lewis and Clark, Richard Nixon, Crazy Horse, and General Custer that are included in Comrades prove. What is more interesting, however, is the more personal material on Ambrose's two brothers (their youthful competitiveness mellowed into mature devotion), fellow historian Gordon Mueller ("my dearest and closest friend"), and several college buddies. After losing touch with each other during the harried years of career building and child rearing, these men rediscovered intimacy in middle age. Most moving of all is the closing chapter on Ambrose's father, an old-fashioned authority figure and disciplinarian quick to criticize his sons, but always available to sustain and guide them. The warming of that rather stern relationship is clearly one of the great joys of his son's adult life. It makes a fitting finale to a dignified but strikingly sweet memoir. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Customer Reviews (35)

A really interesting book, especially for men
I happened to read a condensed version of this book in Reader's Digest.Even though it's about men and their relationships, it was interesting to me (a female).I decided to purchase a copy for my sons and my son-in-law because it's an uplifting and encouraging book.There aren't many out there regarding men and their relationships to other men.

A great theme treated without much depth
Stephen Ambrose wrote some good, seriously researched history books, but intermittently would publish some short volumes that seemed excerpted from his ambitious ones.They seemed to have been published for gift-giving occasions, like Christmas or birthdays.This short book seems to be one of them.His examination of some 'male bonding' between and among biological and comradely brothers is a bit thin, except perhaps for the chapter about himself and his own "brothers."He may have done it for the money; that's fine. Regardless, this book suffers from a cursory examination of some important relationships (Eisenhower brothers, Lewis & Clark, etc.) Toward the end of his career he told Charlie Rose on the latter's interview show that he was 'going to study war no more' and focus on writing about other aspects of history.Well, Christmas time rolled around and there was yet another retelling of some WWII material.The value in a book with an excellent theme of the nature of male friendship is that it may get some people interested in the subject matter history so it motivates them to read and learn more--which right now in our country would be a definite boon.

The audio version is very good
Ambrose's stories of male friendship would be good in any format, but why read what Ambrose wrote when you can hear him read it to you? There is the added benefit of hearing Ambrose's emphasis on a phrase, his light-hearted tone in some areas and, even more important to the emotional punch of some of the stories, hearing his voice break at particularly touching moments (perhaps the most touching was a comment that is highlighted in HBO's 'Band of Brothers'. A veteran of Easy Company is asked by his grandson, "Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?" "No. I served in a company of heroes.")

Ambrose focuused on the friendship he and his brothers share, his friends from college, from work, the friendships of Lewis and Clark, Dwight Eisenhower and his brother Milton, Lewis and Clark, the men of Easy Comapny in 'Band of Brothers', the friendship of men who fought against one another in war but meet again as old men and the friendship between Ambrose and his father. I was surprised that he did not mention the friendship that he shares with his sons since he did the friendship between he shared with his father.

Ambrose comments on the beauty of friendship between old men - no rivalry, nothing but support and love. He notes that he can't wait until he is old and can enjoy such friendships. Sadly, Ambrose died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 66.

I give this one a grade of A-

An easy read, good but not great
This is a very short book, more a collection of short essays than a cohesive treatise on male friendships.The book praises male friendships, using the friendships between Eisenhower and Patton, Custer and his brothers, and Crazy Horse and He Dog as examples.But most of the book deals with the author, his friendships, and his relationships with his father and brothers.These parts of the book are somewhat self-congratulatory yet sad at the same time, because it seems that Ambrose 's relationship with his father was ultimately unsatisfying, though he claims otherwise.For example, the only conversation that the author had with his father about God or faith, apparently, was a brief conversation during a car ride in which they both agreed that there must be a heaven, since Abraham Lincoln would surely have gone to heaven. The author also alludes to, but ultimately skims over, his own alcohol abuse.(If his friendships were so great, as he claims, why did he need to drink so much?)Overall, though, the book was enjoyable and thought provoking.

A Little Diffirent
This is an easy, one day read about friendships.Not a bad book, but we are so used to the brilliance of Ambrose that we, or me anyway, may have had higher expectations than this book brought.It was a pretty good read, but most of all it made me want to read more of some of the friendships included.I'm an Ambrose fan so am glad to have this effort in my library. ... Read more

Product Description
In the early hours of 6th June 1944, a small detachment of British airborne troops stormed the German defence forces and paved the way for the Allied invasion of Europe. Pegasus Bridge was the first engagement of D-Day, the turning point of World War II. This gripping account of it brings to life a daring mission so crucial that, had it been unsuccessful, the entire Normandy invasion might have failed. The author of this book traces each step of the preparations over many months to the minute-by-minute excitement of the hand-to-hand confrontations on the bridge, a story of heroism and cowardice, kindness and brutality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Brilliant Depiction
I thought this was a great book. Very well-written and exciting. It was a little short, which made for an excellent quick-read. I think Mr. Ambrose deserves some credit for writing on a relatively uncovered topic. That being said, those of us who choose to bash on his writing simply because it is allegedly simplistic at times really ought to ease up. Try writing a well-researched book yourself if you have such a problem with this well-written and exciting page turner.

Disappointingly simplistic
I have just finished reading this book tonight and it was a hard task to make it to the end.

For a historian that is as acclaimed as Ambrose I was really disappointed in the quality of this work.While the historical timeline of the actual assualt on the Orne crossings is accurate, the book makes light work of the other elements involved in this critical D-Day operation.At some points his simplistic treatment made me quite angry - for instance when describing the Whermacht command structure and the difference between Rommel and Rundstedt's operational decisions.He also seems to be a huge fan of F/M Montgomery and given the 20/20 nature of hindsight, I don't know why.

Ambrose's narative borders on the annoying at times and the disjointed nature of the switch between narative and quote is frustrating (although one could put this down to bad editing).

Equally annoying is Ambrose's penchant for repetition.He repeats 'ad nauseum' the process by which John Howard prepared D Coy for the coup de main operation.Likewise, he failed to instill any sense of urgency or danger in me as the reader - it was all very 'ho-hum' and I was looking forward to finishing it.

If you're looking for a book to explain this critically important operation then you can do far better than this offering. ... Read more

Product Description

From northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River runs its course along the borders of ten states and cleanly bisects the nation. But the Mississippi is more than an imposing natural landmark; it is embedded in every facet of America’s national identity.

Customer Reviews (2)

Coffee-table effort
Photography by Sam Abell.

Coffee-table book tracing the Mississippi from New Orleans up to Minnesota.Basically episodic historic tidbits wrapped around pretty pictures.

Missing parts
I was disappointed that the accomplishments and contributions of French, Spanish, Swedish, German, etc., ethnic groups to the Mississippi story was not told.I think the book gave excellent coverage of the contributions of the black ethnic groups that I was unaware.Is this a 'politically correct' version of the Mississippi story? ... Read more

Product Description

Stephen Ambrose draws from more than 1,400 interviews with American, British, Canadian, French, and German veterans to create the preeminent chronicle of the most important day in the twentieth century. Ambrose reveals how the original plans for the invasion were abandoned, and how ordinary soldiers and officers acted on their own initiative.

Continuing where he left off in his #1 bestseller D-Day, Stephen Ambrose follows the individual characters of this noble, brutal, and tragic war, from the high command down to the ordinary soldier, drawing on hundreds of interviews to re-create the war experience with startling clarity and immediacy.

Band of Brothers is the account of the men of Easy Company, 506th Airborne Division, U.S. Army who fought, went hungry, froze, and died.A company that took 150 percent casualties and considered the Purple Heart a badge of office. Drawing on hours of interviews with survivors as well as the soldiers' journals and letters, Stephen Ambrose tells the stories of these American heroes.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

great series
My husband loves this and the narration is such that even I enjoy listening to it. ... Read more

Product Description

Stephen E. Ambrose draws upon extensive sources, an unprecedented degree of scholarship, and numerous interviews with Eisenhower himself to offer the fullest, richest, most objective rendering yet of the soldier who became president. He gives us a masterly account of the European war theater and Eisenhower's magnificent leadership as Allied Supreme Commander. Ambrose's recounting of Eisenhower's presidency, the first of the Cold War, brings to life a man and a country struggling with issues as diverse as civil rights, atomic weapons, communism, and a new global role.

Along the way, Ambrose follows the 34th President's relations with the people closest to him, most of all Mamie, his son John, and Kay Summersby, as well as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Harry Truman, Nixon, Dulles, Khrushchev, Joe McCarthy, and indeed, all the American and world leaders of his time. This superb interpretation of Eisenhower's life confirms Stephen Ambrose's position as one of our finest historians. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (45)

Excellent
Enjoying American history andthe people who worked to make this nation great I find this book to be excellent.

Well writen and interesting
Some reviews on this sight have commented that this book borders on hero worship, however I have to disagree. I felt that Ambrose examined the mistakes that Eisenhower made, and was able to explain what went into the reasoning without. What I found very interesting was the section on his Presidency, which gave me a lot of knowledge into that era, revealing how Progressive and engaging of a President Ike was. I found it particularily interesting that Kennedy ran against him saying that he hadn't built enough nuclear bombs to match the Soviet Union. Ike was able to engage in meaningful diplomacy with the nation's enemy's made movement toward civil rights, and supported public schools. This book reveals Ike to be the fine President that he was.

Something to be aware of
When considering this book, be aware that there is significant evidence that the author fabricated interviews in the 1960s in order to embellish this biography.

See:
[...]

A very good biography of a simple but great man
Stephen Ambrose is one of the greatest biographers of the past 50 years.He is surely one of the best of the World War II era.I enjoyed greatly reading his biography of Dwight Eisenhower and enjoyed how in one volume we learned about not just the figure, but the man.Ambrose does a great job of demonstrating the human qualities of Eisenhower without delving into the sleazy gossip that other biographers have tried to smear him with.

I also enjoy how we learn as much about Eisenhower before WWII and as U.S. President.The workings of the man help us understand the working of the administrations he helped to form.The only down side for me is that Ambrose does approach his topic with a bit of hero worship and very little attention is paid to Eisenhower's shortcomings. What attention is paid, like his failure to speak in defense of George Marshall, is mostly glossed over.But again I did not want to hear sleazy gossip repeated and kudo's to Ambrose for not doing that.

Well worth your time to read!

Amazon customer service level
Dear Gentlemen ,
I understand that this review should be focused on the book I bought but I cannot help forgetting that I have been asked to pay additional fees when thisbook has been delivered to me.

As you certanly know when I bought this product , Amazon proposed a price all inclusive to have it delivered at home.
Therefore I should have not paid anything more.

I' m sorry to complain but I have been really disappointed by Amazon' s service level.

Regarding this book , I still ahve to read it and therefore I still can not review it .

Andrea Lodi ... Read more

Product Description
Dwight Eisenhower was not exactly born into poverty, but the family's circumstances were at least austere. He was one of seven children; his father, a railway worker. But the family was strong and unified, the youngsters energetic and ambitious.

Ike made it to West Point, where he excelled in sports. He was a natural leader. But it was at Leavenworth years later, as a student at the war college, that his intellectual talent showed itself. He graduated first in his class.

The author draws in a wealth of previously unpublished information to give us this beautiful portrait. As a result Eisenhower emerges as complex, one who as the author states, ". . .was a good and great man." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A first-rate biography
After reading Ambrose's so-so history of the transcontinental railroad, I was admittedly looking at reading this book with low expectations.Fortunately, this book is far superior to Ambrose's more recent work.

Ambrose does a great job at showing what Eisenhower was like prior to his election as President.Although a generally affectionate work, Ambrose also points out the flaws in the man.The book shows the value of hard work and intelligence, as Ike was essentially a self-made man who got where he was without any special family or friend connections.

This book also depicts the dangers of politics.As Eisenhower gets more involved in the political arena, he becomes a less admirable person, succumbing to the hypocrisy that seems inherent in that field.

This is a well-written portrait of one of the more significant people of the last century.I look forward to reading the second volume and learning more about Eisenhower the President.

Dull bio of an interesting man
Ambrose doesn't manage to totally bore me to death, but I find him highlyoverrated, judging from this work.He manages to turn the life of a greatman into your typical boring biography.It really doesn't compare with thebiographies written by Remini or the other top historians.Still, it doesa fairly good job of covering Eisenhower's life and times, based very muchon Ike's own writings.Moderately recommended.

Outstanding historical work on the 34th President
Stephen Ambrose, America's most dynamic, truthful and objective historian, has given us theclearest picture of one of the most incredible personalities of the 20th Century. From General Eisenhower's birth to the the election of 1952, Ambrose covers the life of this man in such detail, and with such clear objectivity, that one can hardly put it down. As a former teacher, I believe it, along with Volumne II, should be required reading of all students, from the 12th grade on into the college ranks. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

HALLECK: lINCOLN'S cHIEF OF sTAFF
This book is an important component for any Civil War buff or "Lincoln-ite" to better understand the important role of the civilian who "commanded" the Union generals and must be credited with playing a very large role in the final outcome of the War Between the States. As usual, Stephen Ambrose rocks!!! You need to read this book!

A Good Overview But Not A Full Biography
Stephen Ambrose's take on Henry Halleck is an interesting one but it is not a biography by any means. Ambrose offers little on Halleck's interesting pre-war career and almost nothing on his post-was commands. What Ambrose does offer is a quick sketch of Halleck's contribution to the Union war effort. While doing little with Halleck's personal life (you won't read this book and have a better understanding of this enigmatic general's character), Ambrose shows how Halleck helped Grant, Sherman and, especially, Lincoln during the war. Ambrose is at his best as he takes the reader from 1863 until the end of the war. One is left with the feeling that more could have been done covering Halleck's days in the West in 1861 and 1862 but admittedly the focus of Civil War historians remained on the East until recently. While not an attractive personality, Halleck ranks as one of the most important generals of the war and this book serves as an excellent introduction and appreciation of "Old Brains."

Finally does Old Brains some justice
Henry Wager Halleck has gone down in history as the man General Grant replaced, the man who did little to advance the Union cause for the first four years of the Civil War.Perhaps this reputation is deserved, but what is undeserved is the fact that this major player has gone so long without a biography that does him some justice.Master historian Stephen Ambrose sheds light on this interesting individual.

Halleck was born in 1815 and graduated West Point in 1839 in the corps of engineers, a sin quo non for advancement at the time.During the Mexican-American war he was sent to California and subsequently was influential in writing the state's constitution and bringing it into the union.In 1861 Halleck was given command of the Western theatre for the Union and it was here that he first gained recognition for his organizational abilities as well as his problematic love for headquarters.He was the opposite of his most successful commander, Ulysses S. Grant. In 1862 Halleck was brought, by Lincoln, to Washington to run command the entire Union effort.But he proved incapable of dealing with the field commanders, such as Burnside and McClellan and from this point his reputation soured.Eventually he would be replaced by his former subordinate, Grant, and he became Chief of Staff.After a posting in California he was transferred the army command of the 'Division of the South', dying while at work in 1872, a career military man.

This short biography sheds some light on his career and on his successes, especially in terms of logistics, that he brought to the war effort.

Seth J. Frantzman

The story behind this book is not actually Henry Halleck
I'll not repeat the comments made by the other reviewers since I agree with their sentiments. This is a very informative book about "Old Brains," a man without whom neither Lincoln nor Grant could have suceeded.

The most important fact about this book is its importance for the author. Ambrose is without a doubt one of my favorite historians. This was, I believe, his first published work, the result of his PhD research. Soon after it was published, General Eisenhower read the book. He liked it so much, he invited the young author to meet with him to begin writing an official biography. The rest is history, so to speak. Because of this book, we have other great works of history, great because they relate so much of importance and they relate it to the common man.

Thanks to this little book, we all can read D-Day, Citizen Soldier, and outstanding biographies of Nixon and Eisenhower.

Doug

Insightful military biography
Henry Halleck, that is the name that would rise a storm of scorn or derision among most Civil War readers. General Halleck have not been well regarded by most Civil War historians since the Civil War. This short biography (90% of 212 pages of text are on his Civil War years) by Stephen Ambrose tries to take a revisionist tack to Hallack's accomplishments, talents and his contribution to the Union cause. Ambrose's effort was to show that Halleck was bit more then just a paper general but an effective organizer and coordinator of the Union war effort. While admitting that Hallack was no battlefield general, his massive intellect on military matter was more suited for support roles to the armies at front, a classical bookworm general.

The book was originally published back in 1962 so the writing may not be as good as Ambrose's later efforts. But its still nicely readable and provides some very insightful views on Halleck's role in the Civil War. Whether you agree with Ambrose or not, is up to you. ... Read more

Product Description

From acclaimed biographer Stephen E. Ambrose comes the life of one of the most elusive and intriguing American political figures, Richard M. Nixon. From his difficult boyhood and earnest youth to bis ruthless political campaigns for Congress and Senate to his defeats in '60 and '62, Nixon emerges life-size in all his complexity. Ambrose charts the peaks and valleys of Nixon's first fifty years -- his critical support as a freshman congressman of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan; his involvement in the House Committee on Un-American Activities; his aggressive pursuit of Alger Hiss; his ambivalent relationship with Eisenhower; and more. It is the consummate biography; it is a stunning political odyssey. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

A better understanding of a fascinating man
I own all three volumes of the Stephen Ambrose work on Richard Nixon.I was somewhat intimidated in starting the first volume knowing once I started, my personality would force me to read all three volumes unless the quality of the work was horrendous.Fortunately for me, it was just the opposite.Not only is this book well written and researched, it taught me that the subject of the book was a very complex individual who was so much more than the man that I learned about mostly from the Watergate era.I have learned that there were parts of his personality that I detested but there were other parts of him that I admire.Either way, I am now reading the second volume and look forward to reviewing it when I am done.

Great book
This book is my favorite one on Nixon. Ambrose did a great job on explaining Nixon's early years as a child and a young man. I believe that Ambrose gave Nixon a decent and fair treatment in this book. I would highly recommend the book.

Nixon: The Education of the READER
NIXON is an exhaustive and in-depth look at the early years of one of America's most notorious politicians -- Stephen Ambrose has really done his homework.

More than the cold hard facts, though, the reader gets up-close and personal with Nixon -- you really understand what makes him tick, which is probably why you decided to pick up the book in the first place. Afterall, who doesn't want to know more about this complex figure? He was so frequently regardedas "uncharismatic," and "untrustworthy," that even the casual observer of history has to wonder how such a person became President.

I was not only compelled to learn how such an unlikely man gained the presidency, but how this man took such a gift, and betrayed it to his flaws. I knew the answer was, simply, in what made him tick as a human being. I found those answers here.

Surprisingly, one also gains in reading this book a broad education in not only Nixon the man, but his era. This is the great thing about a well-written biography; it can be a wonderful cross-section of not only biographical information but historical as well. In reading Ambrose's account, you will learn a thing or two about how our government works, and will walk away with a historical perspective that will help you to understand today's complex and heated political climate all the better.

The one area where NIXON is lacking, however, is in the exploration (or lack thereof) of Nixon's family life. We are constantly reminded that Nixon was "never there," and that despite his absence, his family "loved him" very much, particularly his girls (who adored him, apparently), but why? We don't get many details on Nixon's relationship with his girls, which I thought would have provided an even clearer window into the subject's complicated psyche. I've heard that whatever his public persona, he was a very loving father. In my opinion, the book suffers for not exploring this deeper.

Though Stephen Ambrose, by his own admission, is no Nixon fan, he is to be applauded for his objective effort in analyzing our former President. While he doesn't let him off the hook (no doubt about it, Nixon played political hardball almost unscrupulously), you will--through reading this book-- come to sympathize and perhaps even find respect for Nixon. Believe it or not, he was in many ways a principled man, and had a deep-rooted code of ethics which governed his direction in life (I mean, look at Watergate -- for the terrible deed it was, at least he wasn't trying to line his own pockets or anything). Unfortunately, as you will learn, he was also too ambitious and too insecure, and these flaws would prove to be his undoing, as they sometimes blinded his morals.

NIXON show us that these flaws would, even early in life, lay the foundations for the subject's eventual downfall. However, this book also teaches us something: we all have flaws, and we are all just as capable as giving in to them as he was.

The life of Richard M. Nixon, is, more than anything else, a cautionary tale.

As the fictional President in Oliver Stone's film NIXON comments whilst gazing at a portrait of JFK; "When they looked at you, they saw what they wanted to be...

When they look at ME, they see what they ARE."

Moves fast and tells a great story
I was 400 pages into this book when I realized there was no way that Ambrose was going to get through the Nixon Presidency and Watergate in the next 200 pages.

Why is that relevant?

Because the book was so interesting that I never even stopped to realize that it wasn't a single-volume biography. I picked it up used at a local book store and just assumed it was a one-volume bio... shame on me. But, the book was so well written that it just flowed and kept my attention. I didn't even notice I was running out of room.

When I did realize I was running out of space and needed volumes II and III, I went online and ordered the second quickly so my journey into the Nixon presidency would go on without a beat. Volumes II and III are pretty pricy by the way. I bought the second and checked out the third. I'd suggest your local library for all 3.

Of the three, I would say I liked the first the most because it talks about a Nixon that was a good guy. He handled himself with dignity under the worst of circumstances... for instance his VP trip to South America. You like Nixon in the first book. Ambrose paints a portrait of a nerdy guy that just happens to be an extremely gifted politician and is willing to play the cards necessary to make it in Washington.

I liked all 3 volumes, but by far the first of the three in the series is the best. If you want to read all 3 though... brace yourself it adds up to more than 1900 pages on what I would consider one of the most interesting people in American history.

Great job Ambrose... or at least great job to what had to have been a small army of researchers.

Great start to the three volume biography
This is the first volume of Ambrose's three volume work detailing the life of Richard Nixon. From childhood to law school to Congress to the Vice-Presidency, the author explores Nixon's character and personality as well as the influences and experiences that made Nixon the complicated and contradictory individual that he was.While the seeds of his destructive personality are clearly present, the reader is struck by the many positive qualities of Nixon.

Ambrose paints the portrait of a budding and able politician whose ultimate demise could be foreseen, but need not have happened. This lack of inevitability is explored further in the second volume.

This first volume can be found at a reasonable price.It should be noted, however, that the second and third volumes are quite rare and expensive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A live recording by one of our great historians
Stephen Ambrose, one of the foremost authors on the D-Day subject, speaks to an audience of veterans at the Smithsonian. Mr. Ambrose has appeared in several films on war history, and is an accomplished speaker. In thisprogram, he concisely describes the reasoning behind the decisions thatgreatly effected the way in which WWII ended. Was Eisenhower correct inallowing the Russians to take Berlin? Why didn't we predict the Germancounter-attack at the Battle of the Bulge when we had their top secretradio code? These are the kinds of questions that S. Ambrose attempts toanswer in this fascinating tape. An important addition to collections ofhis WWII books. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A brilliant man who was gone before he could be appreciated.
Upton and the Army by Stephen E. Ambrose is an excellent biography of a truly remarkable man.Emory Upton came from a poor New England family yet attended West Point Military Academy.He graduated at the start of the Civil War and in 4 years was a Major General at the age of 26.He was a brilliant tactician and helped not only reform tactics of the Army but also toured the world's Armies, wrote a book about it and had served in all 3 main branches of the Army; Calvary, Artillery and Infantry by the age of 40.Unfortunately he suffered from extreme headache, a possible tumor, and felt he was a failure due to slow promotion and lack of recognition in the post Civil War Army.He ended his life while posted to command at the Presidio in California at the age of 42.

Emory Upton was not appreciated for his writings and recommendations during his lifetime but now he has earned the place as one of the Fathers of the amazing Army we now have in America. Mr.Ambrose states the facts and puts his life before us in this easy reading book. A great book for Civil War historians or those looking for a life of leadership.

Outstanding
As a student of the Civil War, I have read manybooks about the subject,and this one to me ranks as among the best.

Steven Ambrose is America'sbest historical biographer and proves it in this outstanding study of EmoryUpton, a hero of the Civil War and a brilliant tactician who was the firstto recognize the need for new army tactics brought about by thechangingtechnology of the Civil War.

Ambrose covers Upton's full life story,his brilliant tactical evolutions of the War, and his struggle to modernizethe Army manual of tactics.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book because itreveals a little known chapter of American Military history and the life ofa figure who played a deep, and perhaps not fully appreciated role init.

Perhaps the best line from the book is General Sherman's descriptionof Emory Upton: "Thoughts are ephemeral, deeds substantial. To uniteboth requires genius."

The same can be said of Mr. Ambose's work. ... Read more

Product Description
Part 1 of 2. Written by Stephen Ambrose, one of America's best historians, tells the story of Lewis and Clark and of their expedition into the wilderness and paints a vivid picture of the trials and tribulations of this epic adventure. This book provides a great deal of detail regarding the backgrounds and lives of Lewis and Clark. Barrett Whitener is an excellent reader for this book. ... Read more

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Although his art took form in many mediums, this lush and colorful book focuses on Walter Anderson's murals, further expanding our understanding of the life work of this richly complex artist. 84 full-color photos. 20 illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Walls of Light - Murals of Walter Anderson
Walls of Light are the murals which cover 3,000 square feet of cinder-block walls in the Ocean Springs, MS Community Center. Walter Anderson saw the walls as a way that he could contribute to society and so he offered to create a mural for the fee of $1. The city provided oil paint and Anderson used it directly on the stucco surface of the block walls.
If you haven't visited Ocean Springs, you should. It's wonderful and the murals, as well as the town, will capitvate you.

Anderson the Muralist
Walter Inglis Anderson was that rarest of humans, a true visionary, so much so that the word "vision" weakly captures the fiery luminescence of his drawings, watercolors, and paintings.The worksphotographed and discussed in this book are perfect examples. Largelyunheralded in his lifetime and for many years after his death in 1965,Anderson's work deserves more caring and careful studies like this. Co-published by the University Press of Mississippi and the Walter AndersonMuseum of Art, this book presents astounding photographs as well asinsightful commentary on the murals Anderson painted on rolls and sheets ofpaper as well as on the walls of the Ocean Springs Community Center and hiscottage near Shearwater Pottery in Ocean Springs.This book is a must forall lovers of the ineffable, mystical qualities of seeing. ... Read more

Product Description
From the author of "D-Day" and "Band of Brothers" comes the story of the ordinary soldiers in Northwest Europe from the day after D-Day until the end of the bittersweet days of the war. It opens at 00:01 hours, June 7, 1944 on the Normandy Beaches and ends at 02:45 hours, May 7, 1945. In between comes the battles in the hedgerows of Normandy; the breakout of Saint-Lo, the Falaise gap; Patton tearing through France; the liberation of Paris; the attempt to leap the Rhine in operation Market-Garden; the near-miraculous German recovery; the battles around Metz and in the Huertgen Forest; the Battle of the Bulge; the capture of the bridge at Remagen; and ends with the overunning of Germany. From the enlisted men and junior officers, Ambrose draws on hundreds of interviews and oral histories from those on both sides of the war. The experience of these citizen soldiers reveals the ordinary sufferings and hardships of war. They overcame their fear and inexperience, the mistakes of their high command and their enemy, to win the war. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

No Generation Has Done more...
No generation has done more to preserve the American way of life than this one.From the Depression into an unwanted war and then rebuilding both America and its enemies' homelands after victory, these people stand tall and alone atop the annals of history.

This book captures the essence of the courage and sacrifice of these men and women.If that were it's only achievement, it would still be an important work.But the more significant contribution to humankind is the capturing and recording of these memories and emotions before these aging warriors pass on. Known for their stoic silence and humility, Ambrose has unlocked their minds and found a way in.They share experiences with him that they rarely spoke about to their own families.And in writing and publishing such works, he has loosened the lips of many more reluctant warriors who are more willing to tell their compelling stories than ever before.

With less and less of the history of World War II being taught in schools, this vehicle will educate present and future generations with its quick and entertaining style, copious maps and pictures.It is fully indexed and generously noted with scores of attributions.

This work, among his many others, is a serious and compelling addition to history.It's shortcomings pale in the light of its substance and value.Respecting this work is the least we can do to say "thank you" to those who made the history happen!

John E. Nevola
Author of The Last Jump: A Novel of World War II

Beautifully told - in all of its splendor and horror (a review of the audiobook)
5 CDs
5 Hours
Also includes a tiny 6 panel map of the war zones.

Cotter Smith masterfully narrates a wonderful re-telling of Ambrose's favorite topic - the Western European theater of World War II. This would serve as a fantastic introduction to this topic, but also is told well enough that someone who has read it all before, like me, found it interesting, informative and entertaining.

Ambrose spices up the story with a lot of stories about regular soldiers at the front. We learn about the challenges, the humor, and the horrors of the fight. Some are soldiers you've never heard of, others are more famous such as Kurt Vonnegut( Slaughterhouse-five ) and Jimmy Stewart ( Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ). Some stories make you laugh out loud, the Vonnegut Christmas story was so sad that I turned off the CD player and drove the rest of the way home in silence because it just didn't seem right to go on.

Highly recommended.

The BEST of over 30 war narratives I've read.
I have read a great many war narratives, old and new, long and short, and this one was possibly the best, most personal war book I've ever read. Better than Black Hawk Down. Better than Band of Brothers. Better than The Coldest Winter. . .

I especially liked the way the book treated the approach to the borders of the Reich. The story of the stall of the advance, the long winter, the pointless, fruitless loss and death in the Hurtgen--the period between Normandy and the Bulge--didn't so much change the way I thought about the course of the war as it just expanded it in depth. Particularly, Citizen Soldiers was unmatched in presenting how this long autumn and winter 1944-1945 affected the individual soldiers not so much just then, but in the final push into Germany.

This book was a fast read, and engaging, but really gave the reader the sense of the slowness of time in miserable conditions.

I'll just stop, because I could continue for a while, but one final note. I've been in the airborne infantry, and I've been in the Army Reserve as a CS troop.

As such, the term, "Citizen Soldier" has been tainted by my experience of the term used today to describe the reserve soldier. They are people to be admired, but cannot compare to the discipline and training of the professional soldiery. For this reason, I avoided this book for a long time because I let my prejudices of the term in the title influence my expectations. Make no mistake, it is aptly named, but its title is its title, not the borrowed phrase.

The citizen soldiers of this title are not those of the modern army propaganda team, but rather those of whom Tyrtaeus spoke:

"For no man ever proves himself a good man in war
unless he can endure to face the blood and the slaughter,
go close against the enemy and fight with his hands.
Here is courage, mankind's finest possession, here is
the noblest prize that a young man can endeavor to win,
and it is a good thing his polis and all the people share with him
when a man plants his feet and stands in the foremost spears
relentlessly, all thought of foul flight completely forgotten,
and has trained his heart to be steadfast and to endure,
and with words encourages the man who is stationed beside him.
Here is a man who proves himself to be valiant in war.
With a sudden rush he turns to flight the rugged battlaions
of the enemy, and sustains the beating waves of assault.
And he who so falls among the champions and loses his sweet life,
so blessing with honor his polis, his father, and all his people,
with wounds in his chest, where the spear that he was facing has transfixed
that massive guard of his shield, and gone through his breastplate as well,
why, such a man is lamented alike by the young and the elders,
and all his polis goes into mourning and grieves for his loss.
His tomb is pointed out with pride, and so are his children,
and his children's children, and afterward all the race that is his.
His shining glory is never forgotten, his name is remembered,
and he bcomes an immortal, though he lies under the ground,
when one who was a brave man has been killed by the furious War God
standing his ground and fighting hard for his children and land."

A Simple Take On One Aspect Of World War II
Though I consider myself to be a "fan" (if that is the right term) of World War II literature, I often find myself shying away from those sorts of books as I tend to get a bit lost in trying to comprehend the entire war at one time.What with events such as Pearl Harbor, D-Day, the European Front, the Russian Front, and the Pacific Front (all of which could fill volumes), it is easy to get lost in such things as trivial details, battalion numbers, and battle strategies.

The beauty of Stephen Ambrose's "Citizen Soldiers", however, is that by focusing on one aspect of the War (U.S. Army, Europe, June 7, 1944 through May 7, 1945, as is listed on the front cover), Ambrose is able to aptly tell the tale of that wartime campaign in the kind of detail it requires.All the major events (D-Day, Market Garden, The Bulge, etc.) are covered in enough detail to give you a picture of what was happening, combined with enough personality to make you understand (if at all possible) what it was like to be there.

Though most of the book follows the events of World War II in chronological order, I actually found my favorite section to be where Ambrose takes a bit of an "aside" to explain such things as:

-Being on the front lines (especially during the long, freezing campaign in the Ardennes Forest)
-How the replacement/reinforcement system worked (and, consequently, didn't work)
-The U.S. Army's considerable air superiority to the German Luftwaffe and what is was like to go to battle in the air.
-The horrors seen and the noble deeds accomplished by the doctors, medics, and nurses who helped keep soldiers both physically healthy and psychologically stable.
-Being a prisoner of war (on both sides).

I found Ambrose to do a marvelous job of attempting to describe the life of a U.S. Army soldier in WWII Europe.Whether it was the major battles and campaigns, or just "a day in the life of a soldier", Ambrose succeeds at capturing the essence of exactly what was transpiring both on the battlefield, in the "down time", and in the mind of each soldier.

Also, I think that the strength of Ambrose as a historian shines the brightest in, of all places, the Afterword section of the book, where he essentially wishes that he could have done more.He recounts a few of the letters written to him from soldiers on that European front, and opines that he could have included all of them.Just knowing that his task's focus couldn't be too big (to risk dilution of the material) or too small (to risk over-specialization on one topic) is, in my mind, enough to cement him as a top historian of all-time.He truly wished that ALL the stories could be told.

So, I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about both the European World War 2 theater, and just what it was like to be a soldier at that time and place in the U.S. Army.It will be even more of an emotional experience if a family member or friend served in army that Ambrose writes about.My grandfather, Ray Koenig, was part of the European campaign, and I came away from this book understanding just a bit more about what he went through for his country.

A nice balance of the big picture and the nitty gritty
This is a series of anecdotes about soldiers' lives.The author keeps his narrative moving and provides a nice mix of the big picture and vivid snippets.He generally lets the facts speak for themselves.It's a story of regular guys accomplishing something spectacular in a horrible situation.As a baby boomer, it is hard to imagine what WWII was like.This book helps me begin to appreciate the "greatest generation."The narration is excellent.The maps that come with the CDs are much too small.You will want to access to a good WWII atlas. ... Read more