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on June 26, 2017
Still a clasic. No better account of the Longest Day.
on August 29, 2017
Written from over a 1000 first hand interviews, no other book about D-Day so completely covers the human element involved in this amazing endeavor. Startling to see the level of personal sacrifice and heroics the world considered normal in the 40s. Difficult to believe America today could rise to this level even if truly threatened. It really was America's greatest generation.
on June 4, 2015
I CONSIDER CORNELIUS RYAN TO BE THE PREEMINENT AUTHOR ON THE DDAY INVASION.I FIRST READ THIS BOOK OVER 30 YEARS AGO AND IT REMAINS TIMELESS IN ITS TELLING THE STORY OF NORMANDY. I HAVE READ HIS TWO OTHER CLASSICS, A BRIDGE TOO FAR AND THE FINAL BATTLE AND CONSIDER EQUAL CLASSICAL IN NATURE..MR. RYAN WAS TAKEN FROM US FAR TO SOON AND HE HAS BEEN SORELY MISSED.
on April 3, 2017
I just visited the beaches for the second time and bought this book to better understand the invasion. It was very helpful and answered a lot of my questions.
VINE VOICEon August 25, 2014
Well, this is not so much of the review, because the word "fantastic" pretty much reflects what I think about this book. As I said elsewhere:
You have to forgive me guys - until few days ago I had no idea that this book is supposed to be the best book about the D-Day. Hey, I am trying to fill those cultural gaps as much as I can, but it is a never ending process :).
Dear Author posted it amongst deals of the day, so I grabbed it for 1.99 which was awesome, but even for this price for me it would be worth every penny. What a fantastic book - on so many levels and not just because of the subject matter, but because it reads as an action/adventure that made me feel glued to the pages and reality just made it more poignant.
I am just amazed at the level of research at how many people he interviewed, how he juggled everything that happened on that day and still made the book so very readable.
You have to forgive me guys - until few days ago I had no idea that this book is supposed to be the best book about the D-Day. Hey, I am trying to fill those cultural gaps as much as I can, but it is a never ending process :).
Dear Author posted it amongst deals of the day, so I grabbed it for 1.99 which was awesome, but even for this price for me it would be worth every penny. What a fantastic book - on so many levels and not just because of the subject matter, but because it reads as an action/adventure that made me feel glued to the pages and reality just made it more poignant.
I am just amazed at the level of research at how many people he interviewed, how he juggled everything that happened on that day and still made the book so very readable.
on June 2, 2013
I happened to read this magnificent book just by chance over this last (2013) Memorial Day. It was an emotional experience. (No, I was not there. I was on the other side of the world at the time.) Most of the men who were there are now gone and all of those who were and are still alive are at least 87 and usually much older.
So we depend on literature and the movies (particularly the magnificent opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan) to tell us the story of That Day (June 6) - almost 70 years ago - when American and British soldiers of the Allied invasion force stormed the beaches of Normandy to start the campaign in Europe which led to collapse of the Third Reich some 11 months and several hundred thousand casualties later.
It was a moving story when I read it when it was published 15 years after the event and it has not lost its impact one bit in the 55 years which have passed since. It is the ultimate in military history, the result of interviews by a seasoned and skillful reporter who spoke with hundreds of the men who were there and tells us just what it was like, what they said of it - horrible, chancy, death-dealing and confused. Nothing more needs be said. If you want to know just what those men faced and eventually overcame on Omaha or Utah Beaches those many years ago just take the time to read Cornelius Ryan's account - even if you have already read it . And Memorial Day is a good time - or the Fourth of July. - or any time.
So we depend on literature and the movies (particularly the magnificent opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan) to tell us the story of That Day (June 6) - almost 70 years ago - when American and British soldiers of the Allied invasion force stormed the beaches of Normandy to start the campaign in Europe which led to collapse of the Third Reich some 11 months and several hundred thousand casualties later.
It was a moving story when I read it when it was published 15 years after the event and it has not lost its impact one bit in the 55 years which have passed since. It is the ultimate in military history, the result of interviews by a seasoned and skillful reporter who spoke with hundreds of the men who were there and tells us just what it was like, what they said of it - horrible, chancy, death-dealing and confused. Nothing more needs be said. If you want to know just what those men faced and eventually overcame on Omaha or Utah Beaches those many years ago just take the time to read Cornelius Ryan's account - even if you have already read it . And Memorial Day is a good time - or the Fourth of July. - or any time.
on June 14, 2014
I will be forever moved by my new understanding of the sacrifices that were made on that fateful day, and of the enormous planning that was necessary to pull it off. - This book should be required reading for all American and British students who need to know how close they came to losing the freedoms they take for granted. In an age where imbeciles like the Kardashians are idolized and even emulated, young people need to know what real values are and to understand the type of person and actions it takes to realize and maintain them.
on November 18, 2010
Cornelius Ryan's "The Longest Day," provides the reader with a vivid account of June 6th, 1944, D-Day. Ryan goes about doing this in a much different way than most historians do, probably due to the fact that Cornelius Ryan was no historian but a journalist that covered World War II and saw what was going on around him. Ryan uses oral history and firsthand accounts of interviews with the brave men that participated in D-Day to get across his main points about how D-Day was much more than just the ships in the armada off the French coast, more than just the machine gun bunkers on Omaha beach, and more than just the parachutes dropping from the Normandy night sky...but about the brave men who came ashore from the ships to take the important beaches, about the German defenders who manned the machine guns to try to ward off the Allied invadors, and about the courageous paratroopers who dropped in behind enemy lines to help set the tone for the Normandy Campaign.
Ryan's book is a very easy read, he does not bore the reader with countless pages of technical terminology and military jargon, but instead focuses on the people that were at D-Day. This book would be recommended to anyone wanting to learn more about D-Day or to a history buff wanting to read about personal stories of World War II at D-Day, or even someone needing a good book on D-Day for a source for college paper like myself, who also loves history and learning about WWII of course. The book is fairly short compared to others, which always helps.
Definitely a good read. I am going to be reading Ryan's other two books on "A Bridge Too Far" and "The Last Battle for Berlin" and will review those as well. This book has me expecting great things from them. Definitely pick this book up if you enjoy history.
Ryan's book is a very easy read, he does not bore the reader with countless pages of technical terminology and military jargon, but instead focuses on the people that were at D-Day. This book would be recommended to anyone wanting to learn more about D-Day or to a history buff wanting to read about personal stories of World War II at D-Day, or even someone needing a good book on D-Day for a source for college paper like myself, who also loves history and learning about WWII of course. The book is fairly short compared to others, which always helps.
Definitely a good read. I am going to be reading Ryan's other two books on "A Bridge Too Far" and "The Last Battle for Berlin" and will review those as well. This book has me expecting great things from them. Definitely pick this book up if you enjoy history.
on March 5, 2010
"The Longest Day" by Cornelius Ryan, is one of the most readable historical accounts I have been privileged to experience. As a substitute teacher, a high school student asked me last year what I found so interesting about history books. My response was to ask the student if they would like to step into a time machine and visit any period of time in history. The student's response was immediate and positive. I suggested to the student that a well-written history book was exactly like that: stepping into a time machine and walking through history, personally experiencing events. I shared that through reading, I had personally been present at the American Revolution, the Civil War, and various other great events; I had met Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, John Wilkes Booth, and Teddy Roosevelt. The student seemed awed at the thought.
Now, thanks to Cornelius Ryan, I have stood on the beaches at Normandy, on June 6, 1944; I have seen both the carnage and the glory that was D-Day; I have both grieved over the sickening sight of men drowning one step off their transport, or being blown to pieces, and have exulted at seeing the courage of soldiers laying their lives on the line to defeat a great and monstrous evil; I have witnessed the almost devastating weight that was on Dwight Eisenhower's shoulders as he made his decisions, and watched the combined forces of the allies respond to their orders. For the first time, I have a deeper understanding of the maxim "War is Hell!" No historical account, however well written, can truly place one on the scene of a historical event... but Ryan comes as close as any historian I have been privileged to read. If you want to understand the price our gallant soldiers (including all participating allied nations), read "The Longest Day" by Cornelius Ryan. You will never forget it.
Now, thanks to Cornelius Ryan, I have stood on the beaches at Normandy, on June 6, 1944; I have seen both the carnage and the glory that was D-Day; I have both grieved over the sickening sight of men drowning one step off their transport, or being blown to pieces, and have exulted at seeing the courage of soldiers laying their lives on the line to defeat a great and monstrous evil; I have witnessed the almost devastating weight that was on Dwight Eisenhower's shoulders as he made his decisions, and watched the combined forces of the allies respond to their orders. For the first time, I have a deeper understanding of the maxim "War is Hell!" No historical account, however well written, can truly place one on the scene of a historical event... but Ryan comes as close as any historian I have been privileged to read. If you want to understand the price our gallant soldiers (including all participating allied nations), read "The Longest Day" by Cornelius Ryan. You will never forget it.
