Stephen E. Ambrose’s D-Day is the definitive history of World War II’s most pivotal battle, a day that changed the course of history.
D-Day is the epic story of men at the most demanding moment of their lives, when the horrors, complexities, and triumphs of life are laid bare. Distinguished historian Stephen E. Ambrose portrays the faces of courage and heroism, fear and determination—what Eisenhower called “the fury of an aroused democracy”—that shaped the victory of the citizen soldiers whom Hitler had disparaged.
Drawing on more than 1,400 interviews with American, British, Canadian, French, and German veterans, Ambrose reveals how the original plans for the invasion had to be abandoned and how enlisted men and junior officers acted on their own initiative when they realized that nothing was as they were told it would be.
The action begins at midnight, June 5/6, when the first British and American airborne troops jumped into France. It ends at midnight June 6/7. Focusing on those pivotal twenty-four hours, it moves from the level of Supreme Commander to that of a French child, from General Omar Bradley to an American paratrooper, from Field Marshal Montgomery to a German sergeant.
Ambrose’s D-Day is the finest account of one of our history’s most important days.
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“Packed with drama and information, never losing sight of the horrors of combat, Ambrose’s D-Day is the best book yet on what many historians consider to be the most important day of the twentieth century.”
— San Francisco Chronicle
“His evidence is overwhelming.”
— Wall Street Journal“D-Day is mostly about people but goes even further in evoking the horror, the endurance, the daring, and, indeed, the human failings at Omaha Beach…Outstanding.”
— New York Times Book Review“A consuming and highly readable memorial to the day’s infantry-unit victors.”
— Booklist“A splendid, moving, and authoritative account of the most decisive day of WWII.”
— Kirkus Reviews“Detailed enough for the historian yet with plenty of action for the lay reader.”
— Library Journal“The many small stories that Ambrose collected from paratroopers, sailors, infantrymen, and civilians make the excitement, confusion, and sheer terror of D-day come alive on the page.”
— Amazon.comStephen E. Ambrose (1936–2002) was the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including Citizen Soldiers, Undaunted Courage, and D-Day, as well as biographies of Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon. He also founded the Eisenhower Center and was president of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. His book, Band of Brothers, was the basis for the HBO miniseries. He was also a contributing editor for the Quarterly Journal of Military History, a member of the board of directors for American Rivers, and a member of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council Board.