What an epic story what great men

This is a book over 20 hours long but you could listen to it in one go. It is fantastic. The audible personal histories that a place and the right sections of the book add to the human side of the battle. By the end you know all the beaches, the French towns, the generals and some of the men. You get the overall picture of what happen, why, when and how. The analysis is good and you don't need visual aids to help you with maps, equipment, man power and the like. A well told story, entertaining and interesting. Worth the listen to if only to honour the men who died fighting this battle.Thank god for the yanks, Canadians, Brits and Free French who fought their way into Fortress Europa. Not to forget the non combatants, other nationalities and poor Eastern European conscripts. The story tells it all.

44 people found this helpful

I learned something

Would you listen to D-Day again? Why?

No. I have been listening to audio books for at least 25 years and I have never listened to a book twice. I'm not going to start now.

What was one of the most memorable moments of D-Day?

I have read a variety of accounts of D-Day including several books but Ambrose was the first to tell the story of the destroyers which followed our soldiers to Omaha Beach and laid down five inch fire using the targets of the few tanks that made it ashore as guides for fire missions. In the Ambrose version, had one destroyer captain not seized the opportunity to move as close to shore as possible and lay down fire on the German gun emplacements our infantry may never have penetrated the shingle, the sea wall and the the German defenses. As a result of that captain's leadership four or five more destroyers fell in behind his ship and lay down covering fire and fire on specific objectives all without the use of one beach to ship radio. All the radio equipment carried on shore by the infantry had died by drowning in the surf. The Navy watched at first in horror and then one man reacted changing the entire situation. One whale of a story.

Which scene was your favorite?

The Omaha Beach destroyers without doubt.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I don't think I understood just how ill General Teddy Roosevelt was. Ambrose makes him a character more than a great warrior. Nonetheless he walked with his cane all over Utah Beach organizing some and encouraging a lot without regard for enemy fire. As a result Omar Bradley when asked what courage was said, something to the effect, "Courage was Ted Roosevelt on Utah Beach."

Any additional comments?

I now know something about the Canadian contribution to D-Day.

27 people found this helpful

This is an awesome story about the greatest day

Where does D-Day rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book really exposes the greatness of that generation. I fear to say that if we had such a large issue arise today we would not have the numbers of people who would risk it all to deal with the issue.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the detail of the things that went wrong and how those men dealt with the issues, and drove on to complete their mission.

What does Jesse Boggs bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jesse Boggs read this story in a way that I really think did justice to Ambrose. It almost made me think that Ambrose was reading it.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The greatest day in history.

26 people found this helpful

Best book on d day

Second time listening to this and still in awe. Well researched and the description of the battle is vivid.

11 people found this helpful

Wonderful book, average performance

Would you consider the audio edition of D-Day to be better than the print version?

No.

What was one of the most memorable moments of D-Day?

General Cota's leadership by example.

Any additional comments?

Shouldn't a reader of a book about WWII in Europe at least try to learn how to pronounce the German names and ranks?

9 people found this helpful

very U.S.-centric

A lot about paratroopers and Omaha beach. Comparatively little about non-U.S. forces. More coverage was given to reactions back in the U.S. than Juno, Gold, or Sword beaches.

8 people found this helpful

Fantastic History

I've read a lot of books on World War II...too many for me to count. I had family in the War and have always been fascinated by the incredible effort and bravery that went into saving the world from the dictators. I decided to listen to this book in advance of a visit to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans to both broaden and refresh my knowledge. I am really glad that I did. Professor Ambrose is a fantastic storyteller, and it does not get much better than this when it comes to a pure history book. He does a masterful job of mixing hard facts with anecdotal stories. I am really glad that I listened to this before going to the museum. Incidentally, if you like World War II history, I highly recommend a visit to the museum. I've been to a lot of great museums (my idea of a good vacation), and I can say that the World War II Museum is truly one of the best that I have ever seen. Be sure to book two days because you can't truly see it all in one.

6 people found this helpful

Great Detail

This book was excellent bring to light all the details that were necessary to pull off the d-day invasion

6 people found this helpful

Great book of the grand invasion day of WW ll

Great (audio) book on the greatest invasion of all time. Ambrose gives balanced points of view from all sides of the big day. He does a great job of providing the Allies invasion planning and the German’s preparations for an invasion; especially Gen Erwin Rommel’s. He also gives highlights and errors on all sides that occurred prior, during and after the invasion began. Ambrose does this based on 100’s if not 1,000s of interviews. The book goes into great detail, sometimes a little too much detail, about events and items related to the invasion. But I loved hearing the book commuting to work and back home over a week or so, and more at home late in the evenings.

Ambrose does leave out some important details for the invasion preparation like using Gen George S Patton as a diversion and the great respect and fear the Germans had for his aggressive style and considered him the Allies best fighting general. Ambrose also leaves out a lot of the fake armies and fighting equipment used to deceive the Germans that Calais would be where the invasion would come from. Which overall, they already believed.

However, this is a great book on the big day and one I would listen to again to hear the parts that I missed while distracted or doing other things while listening to the audio book. I highly recommend this book as I do others by the Ambrose’s.

4 people found this helpful

Great book, decent performance.

Interesting book. The reader however had a real wet mouth oddly enough. Sounded as though he was chewing or had a cold. Made it very hard to listen to at times.

3 people found this helpful