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Citizen Soldiers
- The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 21 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: History, Americas
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From July 10, 1943, the date of the Allied landing in Sicily, to May 8, 1945, when victory in Europe was declared - the entire time it took to liberate Europe - no regiment saw more action, and no single platoon, company, or battalion endured worse, than the ones commanded by Felix Sparks, who had entered the war as a greenhorn second lieutenant of the 157th "Eager for Duty" Infantry Regiment of the 45th "Thunderbird" Division. Sparks and his fellow Thunderbirds fought longest and hardest to defeat Hitler.
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Publisher's Summary
Citizen Soldiers opens on June 7, 1944, on the Normandy beaches, and ends on May 7, 1945. From the high command on down to the enlisted men, Stephen E. Ambrose draws on hundreds of interviews and oral histories from men on both sides who were there. He recreates the experiences of the individuals who fought the battles, the women who served, and the Germans who fought against us.
Ambrose reveals the learning process of a great army: how to cross rivers, how to fight in snow or hedgerows, how to fight in cities, how to coordinate air and ground campaigns, how to fight in winter and on the defensive, how citizens become soldiers in the best army in the world.
A masterful biography of the U.S. Army in the European Theater of Operations, Citizen Soldiers provides a compelling account of the extraordinary stories of ordinary men in their fight for democracy.
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Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- lmtwashington
- 07-27-18
Respect Our Vets But Not Ambrose
Have listened to this recounting dozens of times. Each time Ambroses underlying views come clearer. Common men became hero’s to us by their deeds but Ambrose continually assaults them, their motives, their leaders and the outcomes of their actions. Ambrose has been cast as somehow as heroic as those who Hanks and Spielberg diminished in BofB. Listen long enough to Ambrose and what becomes clear is why he was a lifelong supporter of George McGovern....a pilot he covers and idolizes in another book...got for his duty but for his liberal world view. Our WW2 veterans are worthy of all praise for being the men and soldiers they were. Do not expect; in a close reading of this book, to find Ambrose applying such praise. This is is history with an authors undeniable liberal world views.
13 people found this helpful
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- RoosterCogburn
- 01-31-13
Unique Perspective of WWII
Ambrose is an excellent writer, and this book is no exception. Thoroughly researched from both sides of the war in Europe, but unique in that the primary focus is from the perspective of the front-line troops. I found the interviews with the former German soldiers to be very insightful. It isn't often we hear reflections on WWII from those who were our enemies.
Some funny stories, some heartbreaking ones (how could we ever understand the hell that was the frontline in the winter of 1944?) and overall a very good listen.
11 people found this helpful
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- Jeremy
- 06-30-11
Required reading, excellent narration
This book conveys the tragedy of war for all. As a combat vet of Iraq I feel that my tour was a walk in the park compared to WWII. All citizens should read this book to help them understand the price that was paid to defeat the nazis.
The narrator also does an excellent job, his various accents help the flow of the book and his delivery, tempo, and tone were perfect.
18 people found this helpful
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- Aimee
- 05-15-13
I Read it Before and Hearing it is Even Better
Would you listen to Citizen Soldiers again? Why?
This is a great telling of WWII from the soldiers perspective. I read it some years ago and hearing it again I learned some new things I had forgotten. Stephen Ambrose has a way of telling a story that bring the words of history to life.
Who was your favorite character and why?
His story telling keeps the listener listening. It's like watching a movie in your head.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I wish I could listen to this in one sitting.
Any additional comments?
Listening to this makes me proud to be an American. Proud of our history and thankful of our past. Some may say our current generation couldn't do the same. Many have said the same of previous generations before. Gertrude Stein called the WWII generation, "The lost generation".
I'm sure history will repeat itself if the current generation is ever called on to defend freedom on a massive scale. It will succeed and we will prevail.
What a great book.
11 people found this helpful
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- Jonathan Love
- 05-18-16
Only Ambrose Writes So Specifically and So Broad
First, I only gave this book an overall rating of 4 Stars because, although so thorough and wonderful, it doesn't compare to Band of Brothers. I know it's not supposed to be like Band of Brothers, but I can't help but compare the two. As a paratrooper myself, I couldn't help but imagine myself sitting in the foxhole at the Battle of the Bulge with Easy Company.
Citizen Soldiers also gets a mild criticism in regard to the paucity of mentions that many of the units he was talking about were National Guard. Ambrose addresses this in the afterword, but I picked this book up specifically looking for information about National Guard Soldiers during WWII. Part of the aforementioned shortcoming in comparison to CPT Winters' Soldiers is the fact that Citizen Soldiers doesn't follow one unit from their training through D-Day, the march toward Germany, and the end of the war. Therefore one isn't endeared to one group of Soldiers.
Also because of the broad-stroke accounts of the book, it was apparent that Ambrose had to jump around on the timeline to accommodate some sort of association of topics (e.g., different unit perspectives, General Officer perspectives, German Officer/Soldier perspectives, medical/nurse perspectives, Veteran vs. replacement perspectives). This created a mild difficulty in keeping the current stage of the progress in mind during tangential narratives and biographies.
Who am I to be critical of Ambrose, but these were some of my thoughts. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to listening to it again. I really like Ambrose's assessments of US Army failures in the European Theater, specifically that of forcing replacements into Veteran and combat fatigued units; while anyone who served during WWII can be considered, 'The Greatest Generation,' it really seems that the few frontline Soldiers who survived D-Day through the end of combat operations really gave all and then were forced to give more and more and more.
10 people found this helpful
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- C,L, Richey
- 04-15-13
Unbelievable heroism.
This is the second book from Mr. Ambrose that I have read and it was as good as the first. I read Band of Brothers after watching the HBO mini-series and enjoyed it. Citizen Soldiers is another excellent read. It covers everything in the ETO from Normandy to Berlin. You'll learn things about the major players that you may not have known. I was drawn in from the start and it kept me interested to the end. It is heartbreaking to know how many men's lives were wasted through poor planning and execution of orders that were unnecessary. And how one generals decision cost the men countless unnecessary cases of frostbite and trench foot through lack of proper equipment. If you enjoyed Band of Brothers you will also enjoy Citizen Soldiers. I just purchased Wild Blue by Mr. Ambrose and I expect it will be as good as this book.
3 people found this helpful
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- DKSTRYKER
- 04-16-20
No subject left untouched from 44' to 45'
Ambrose never fails to catch the reader's heart & mind. His work here captures the detail to the Teeth of the War in Europe from 1944 - 1945. Gripping details of the Land, sea, air, medical, & homefront life during the war. I loved it! I plowed through this in less than a week!
2 people found this helpful
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- Wade
- 04-06-14
History brought to life via soldier stories
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, especially if they had an interest in WW II.
What does George Wilson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
His voice varied enough to make the soldiers being discussed or 'talking/telling their story' stand apart.
Any additional comments?
Well worth the listen. Although I suspect each listener will come away with specific remembered parts, overall the gritty nature of war and the struggles faced by soldiers on both sides is well portrayed.
5 people found this helpful
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- Bhinde99
- 01-19-20
amazing
I couldn't stop listening to this book, so well written and read. What this country did is absolutely amazing. Thank you
1 person found this helpful
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- Joe. Nobody
- 03-07-19
the narrator ruin this book for me
this is probably an awesome book like all of his other books but the narrator's collection of nose whistle lip smacking teeth clucking just ruinend this for me so I can't give an honest review of the book it's self it was that distracting for me
1 person found this helpful
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- Phil
- 02-07-16
Excellent
Stephen E Ambrose is a figure of some envy within the community of WW2 historians. He somehow cracked the market open and his Band of Brothers became that golden HBO TV hit. I've heard some try to undermine him by discrediting his academic prowess. I have to say that doesn't disconcert me at all. He is a fine writer, his work is accessible and his perspective on human experience in combat is insightful and empathetic.
I like how Ambrose looks at soldiers as people first and foremost. The solidiers and individuals, with characteristics and as much as he can he will tease out the humanity within the uniform.
This is a great book. It gives you enough to understand the nasty side of war, without detracting one iota from the heroism. The futility is there too - this account doesn't embellish armed conflict, but it doesn't saturate the reader with morality tales either.
There is a genuine critical perspective - and Ambrose is not partisan - he respects both the axis and the allies as soldiers quite equally and pulls no punches in pointing out the strengths and weakeness on both sides.
His criticism of both Montgomery and Patton is welcome and refreshing. He is in neither tent and can see that even in WW2, the media image outstripped the abilities of both men.
Some of the tales will make you shake your head. From the small intimate stories that happened between one of two soldiers in a skirmish or a patrol, to the stories of entire battles that have since been apparently forgotten or sanitised for the sake of post-war recollection.
And by the way Ambrose doesn't mind digging out the controversy and giving you some insight in those situations either.
A genuinely excellent insight.
I also rate the narration very highly - which is incredibly important for me.
3 people found this helpful
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- Mr Emmanuel F J Trainor
- 04-24-19
Great book. Awful narrator.
A great book detailing the ongoing battle through the ETO mostly through American eyes. Nonetheless, the personal accounts, interspersed with factual detail is good, and easy to listen to. However, the narrator has an extremely limited knowledge of foreign placenames. His incorrect pronunciation actually angered me!!
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- Sean
- 05-01-18
An eye opener
I've gone through a few books lately about war, I love it when someone knows what they're talkin' about, I'd recommend this book to anyone with an interest in war and warrior's narratives.
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- Guy caudullo
- 09-07-21
Just Awesome
Another fantastic historical telling of WW2 thos time from both aspects. God bless the souls who perished in a war we all hope never repeats