Title

D-Day, June 6, 1944 : the climactic battle of World War II

Description

On the basis of 1,400 oral histories from the men who were there, Eisenhower biographer and World War II historian Stephen E. Ambrose reveals for the first time anywhere that the intricate plan for the invasion of France in June 1944, had to be abandoned before the first shot was fired. The true story of D-Day, as Ambrose relates it, is about the citizen soldiers - junior officers and enlisted men - taking the initiative to act on their own to break through Hitler's Atlantic Wall when they realized that nothing was as they had been told it would be. This is a brilliant telling of the battles of Omaha and Utah beaches, based on information only now available, from American, British, Canadian, French, and German veterans, from government and private archives, from never before utilized sources on the home front, gathered and analyzed by the author, who has made D-Day his life work. Ambrose's first interview was with General Eisenhower in 1964, his last with paratroopers from the 101st Airborne in 1993. Called the premier American narrative and military historian, Ambrose explains the most important day of the twentieth century. The action begins at midnight, June 5/6, when the first British and American airborne troops jumped into France to launch the invasion. It ends at midnight, June 6/7. Focusing on those pivotal twenty-four hours, this is the story of individuals rather than units. 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 British private, from Field Marshal Rommel to a German sergeant. Ambrose covers the politics of D-Day, from Churchill's resistance to the operation to Stalin's impatience and Roosevelt's concern. On the other side were Hitler's command structure, German policy, and the plot against the Fuhrer. This is the epic victory of democracy in winner-take-all combat. When Hitler declared war on the United States, he bet that the young men brought up in the Hitler Youth would outfight the Boy Scouts. Ambrose shows how wrong he was.

Identifier

586292

671884034

Creator

Ambrose, Stephen E

Source

Brian Lamb Booknotes Collection

Gift of Brian Lamb, 2011.

Catalog record

Language

eng

Date

1994

Program air date: June 5, 1994.

Publisher

Simon & Schuster

George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections & Archives

Text

Transcription of Annotations
Notes on front flyleaf: Hedgerows. Atlantic Wall--one of the greatest blunders in military history, p. 577. D-day-491. Home front, 486. Rommel v. Eisenhower, p. 58. Overlord. Wooden bullets-rules of warfare p. 190. Axis Sally--Bitch of Berlin. Eisenhower's son John--West P. grad on D-Day and then tour of beaches. 432 C-47's take 82nd airborne to Normandy. Airborne--what went right and wrong, p. 223. Notes on verso of flyleaf: Moira-wife, Stephanie, Grace. Whittier College. Mississippi. Lamb numbered each of Ambrose's 16 books on the list "Also by Stephen E. Ambrose." Underlinings/notes: Underlinings: Lamb marks Ambrose's influences, sources, the names of officer's/soldiers as well as contrasts/similarities between Eisenhower/Rommel. Lamb also underscores descriptions of morale, weather, numbers of troops/causalities, prayer, and individual accounts of troops landing/fighting, lessons learned on both sides. Also marked are US reactions to D-Day like most stores/theaters, etc. closed in New York City Notes: Lamb notes political/military leaders like DeGaulle, Rommel, IKE, Stalin; reaction /experience of troops "D-Day no experienced troops," "some refused to jump," "puke," "citizen-soldiers," journalists: CBS Murrow, Hicks of ABC.

Subject

"World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--France--Normandy."

Relation

Original Booknotes interview

Rights

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