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The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Day
by: Cornelius Ryan |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 940.542142 EAN: 9780671890919 ISBN: 0671890913 Label: Simon & Schuster Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 352 Publication Date: May 01, 1994 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Studio: Simon & Schuster Features:
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| Customer Reviews | ||
 - Exciting and Balanced Account of D-DayD-Day is one of the most important days in the last one hundred years. It has been portrayed in countless times in different forms through movies (examples The Longest Day (Two-Disc Collector's Edition), Saving Private Ryan (Special Limited Edition), and Band of Brothers), video games Medal of Honor Allied Assault Deluxe, Close Combat: Invasion Normandy), but written word shouldn't be forgotten. Cornelius Ryan's first book brings it to life. He describes the events leading up to the invasion, the aborted attempt, the airborne landings the night before, and storming the beaches. Ryan provides his colorful history from a range of sources including interviews with generals to soldiers to civilians. He also bases his story on his research of captured German documents and other firsthand historical accounts. There also some nice B/W pictures provided including pictures from Ryan's personal collection. He lays out the story through the perspective of all sides. He shows the story unfolding from the eyes of all the allies, the defending Germans, as well as the civilians directly involved. His writing style is very dramatic and keeps your enthusiasm throughout. He also doesn't neglect the actions of the non-American allies. You are introduced to Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches as well as the well known Omaha and Utah. Ryan also shows us how disorganized the Germans were on D-day. Key members of the German command were away including Rommel. Armored reinforcements were moved and then halted. You never know what could have been, but the book makes you appreciate how fortunate the allies were on D-Day. The generals were expecting that all the beaches would be as bloody as Omaha. My only complaints, roughly three-fifths of the book are events leading up to the beach landings. I think more detail especially on the advances from the beaches should have been provided. Another detraction is the lack of maps in the version that I have. I'm familiar with the beaches and airborne landing areas, but maps showing these areas would have been very helpful to readers not familiar with the subject. Despite those minor detractions, I highly recommend this book. The sacrifices made on June 6th 1944 should never be forgotten. We are fortunate that Cornelius Ryan has captured a little of that for us. See Ryan's other books as well, A Bridge Too Far: The Classic History of the Greatest Battle of World War II and Last Battle: The Classic History of the Battle for Berlin. Rating: - Experience D-Day For Yourself"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. Rating: - The Invasion of Normandy (4.5 stars)Written 50 years ago and based upon the accounts of actual participants, this is probably the best account of D-Day. It starts with a few stories immediately prior to the invasion, but the main focus is on day of June 6, 1944. As he states in the beginning, this is "not a military history" but "the story of people." And as such it does not present in extensive detail the strategies or even full accounts of each and every unit or battalion involved. Instead it combines the experiences of both generals and soldiers and weaves them into a very readable account. It can feel somewhat confusing at times, mixing both broad plans with on the ground accounts, but this style gives the book a very human feel. And it's not just confined to the Allies' view of events, but includes many accounts from German soldiers and officers as well as a few from French civilians and the Underground Resistance. And all are presented in a surprisingly even and fair manner, without demonizing either side, even giving it a somewhat detached feel at times. It's a very quick and easy read, and goes much faster than it's 300 pages might suggest. My copy (which appears to be an original 1959 edition) has colorful maps in the front and back which made following the narrative easier (although the maps lack a clear legend). A number of b&w photos are also included. Rating:  - Is that you, John Wayne?The Longest Day put great personal stories to the history. It gave a wonderfully specific, but not overly laborious description of the day of battle through the eyes of the survivors. Written within 15 years of the war, this book is filled with gold--interviews with survivors of D-Day that are lost forever now, with fewer and fewer by the year. Thank goodness for this wonderful record of the events. I have only two criticisms. One is that I felt the book was overly detailed in the lead-up to the invasion. There was a bit too much description of the terrain and the preparations than I would have liked, and the battle only really occupied the second half of the book--it took me a while to get into the read. My second criticism is no fault of the author, editor, publisher, or anyone else involved, but merely a lament at the sad fact that no matter how we may wish for it, there is no such thing as a book starring John Wayne. Rating: - Strategy, Human Interest, A Definitive Historical Source"The Longest Day" by Cornelius Ryan is the epic history of Operation Overlord, the Normandy Landings of June 6, 1944. Brought to the big screen in the movie of the same title, it will be a very familiar read for many. This book employs a skillful weaving of the big picture with the human interest. Here we get an understanding for the objectives of the battle and the heroic, tragic and humorous incidents which arose during this momentous contest. The days leading up to Overlord were demanding and nerve wracking for both sides. The Germans were split between Rommel, who believed that the invasion must be stopped on the beach or not at all, and Von Rundstedt, who wanted to let the invasion come ashore and then engage it beyond the range of Allied naval guns. Von Rundstedt based his opinion on what he thought that he had learned from prior landings. The Allies, for their part, had learned from the disastrous Canadian raid on Dieppe in 1942 that any invasion must have the advantage of overwhelming force. They had their own disagreements, such as how to employ air power. Should it be used in a Transportation Plan, to isolate the battlefield, or to pound the German heartland? The Germans had the disadvantage of having to defend the whole shoreline, while the Allies could choose where to direct their fury. The German Atlantic Wall of mines, barbed wire, gun encasements, "Rommel Asparagras", beach obstacles and other impedimenta presented a daunting front to the Allies and strained the productive capacity of the Reich. The Allies maximized their advantage through Operation Fortitude, the faux army commanded by Patton aimed at Calais. Still they had their own cases of the jitters, such as when a popular British crossword puzzle writer used several Overlord related words in the weeks leading up to the invasion. The final uncontrollable was the weather, which forced a one day delay and almost scrubbed the landings. The complexity of the operation boggles the mind. The weeks of air bombardment, the parachute drops to secure causeways and crossroads behind the beaches, gliders to bring in more troops and heavier equipment, naval bombardment followed by the amphibious assaults on five Norman beaches had to be timed to the moon and tide. Considering the scope of the operation, the missed drop zones, the landings on the wrong beach, the assault on abandoned fortifications at Pointe du Hoc, and the other snafus are understandable. A reader can get these big stories from many sources. What makes this book unique is the human touch, the narration of stories that we remember from the movie. We read about Pvt. Arthur B. "Dutch" Schultz, of the 82nd Airborne who really did win a wad in a crap game and then decide to lose it all, the troops who landed in the heart of Ste. Mare Eglise while a fire was being fought, including Pvt. John Steele of the 82nd who did get caught on the steeple and the chaplain who did dive five times to find his mass kit in the flooded drop zone, just to mention a few. This is an interesting read for its human interest value. For anyone wanting an understanding of D-Day, it is essential. This and Stephen Ambrose's "D-Day" (see my Amazon review) are the two leading works available in English. The frequency with which Ambrose quotes Ryan gives testimony to the value of "The Longest Day" as a definitive historical source. |
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