Rating:  Summary: Perfect Name for a Remarkable Story Well Told Review: I saw this movie a long, long time ago, then I grew older and read the book. Sorry to you movie fans, but the book is what it's about, the story.What the movie lacks in detail, the book has. 3 hours of film cannot begin to scratch the surface the way the book does. Mr. Ryan plunges into details about everything involved with D-Day, and not just shooting and fighting. There are stories about newlyweds, converted gamblers, families at home, and from both sides of the beach. Somehow he manages to cover in a bit over 350 pages, almost all that is important about D-Day. What a daunting tast this must have been! But let me say this, Mr. Ryan achieves a level of wrting quality that is very rare. This book goes from top to bottom of the chain of command, Supreme Commander to private soldier, all have their stories told in grand fashion, but never long winded. The reading flys by, and you'll have to hang on to the book, or so it'll feel. It never gets slow, but moves from page to page with a determination that most books don't have. If you know the ground, this book will be a great pleasure. If you don't know the ground, then you will have a great picture of it when you get there. If you like history, this is a read that will be an event in your study and/or enjoyment of the subject. It's even better the second time. Read it now!
Rating:  Summary: AMAZING Review: This book goes beyond any description. I love how Ryan sucks me into the battle making me feel as if i were there. He brings me into the mind of Eisenhower, Rommel and countless troops on that fateful day. Ryan's detail creats a rythmatic flow which plays like a movie in my head and i would recommend it to anyone. I've read hundreds of excellent books but i would have to say that none could compare to this book. it's written almost too perfectly for it to have actually happened. Ryan's an expert and a master. After reading this book, i seriously wished to be in that war and to fight along with the troops just because of the way Ryan was able to pull me into the story.
Rating:  Summary: The Longest Day Review: The Longest Day is a non- fiction book by Cornelius Ryan. It is about the Allied invasion of Normandy and the events leading up to it in World War two. The invasion happened on June 6, 1944. An important character in the book is the Colonel of a paratrooper battalion. He is responsible for the training of his battalion and helping them in combat. While he was jumping out of his C-47 near a heavily fortified French town one of his companies landed in the town and they got massacred. The Colonel did not know that and even though he did a vigorous search with a broken ankle he did not find them. So he went on with out him. The Longest Day has a lot of courageous soldiers in it especially on Omaha Beach. Omaha Beach was one of the beaches the Americans landed on. It was defended by an experienced German division and many Americans died. The book is written so that it jumps from one part of the invasion to the other and follows individual soldiers through parts of the battle. The author also is very descriptive. I liked The Longest Day a lot and I think many other people will like it too. I think people 11 or older should read the book because it is sometimes confusing.
Rating:  Summary: a classic indeed Review: This is a fine, fine read that lives up to its reputation as the classic account of D-Day--and also as a truly riveting read. For a treatment of the strategy of which the Normandy landings were a part or for what came after (or, for that matter, before) June 6, 1944, you'll need to look elsewhere, for Ryan focuses on the sixth itself and discusses strategic elements virtually not at all (except for some tangential remarks on Germany's strategy for defending occupied France). But at the level of the soldier on the ground, in the thick of battle, this is great reading. Ryan breaks his book down into three parts: "The Wait," "The Night," and "The Day." The first part details the day or two before the invasion, during which the tense Allies finally decided that the sixth and not the fifth would be D-Day and during which things worsened for an already unprepared German army (such as Rommel's departure from the front for a visit home). After something of an anti-climax on June 5, when the landings were pushed back a day, events accelerate rapidly. After midnight on June 6 ("The Night"), paratroopers land behind the beaches. The Germans were surprised, but the Allied effort was confused and scattered since many paratroopers missed their drop zones by as much as miles. Dawn brings even greater surprise to the German leadership in France, most of whom believed the invasion would come at Calais, when they spy the massive invasion force with its thousands of vessels off the coast at Normandy. Americans land in the west at Utah and Omaha, while British and Canadian forces land at Sword, Juno, and Gold in the east. Classic episodes ensue at Utah, where resistance is light and troops under Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., move inland to meet up with airborne soldiers. Much bloodier combat took place on Omaha, where many Americans fell. Omar Bradley was on the verge of pulling back from Omaha and re-directing troops to Utah when men of the 1st and 29th Divisions finally gained a foothold and began to break down the Germans' fortified positions and pillboxes. Meanwhile, to the east, British troops are led into battle by bagpipes and achieve successes. Portrayed mostly through the eyes of the troops, Ryan's account is gripping, engaging, exciting. For the most part, he follows the American-British-Canadian offensive, but he also gives attention to the German defenders (including a particularly interesting account of a company inside a pillbox). Ryan captures the confusion on both sides and conveys that things soon fell into place for the Allies while the Germans seemed to fall into greater and greater disarray. It would be a long fight--another eleven months--until Germany fell, but that struggle began on the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944: the longest day.
Rating:  Summary: A history lesson Review: I'm usually very interested in books when the subject is the Second World War. Mostly what I read are books of fiction, dealing with certain aspects of this time period, such as Ken Follett's "Eye of the Needle", Robert Harris' "Enigma", etc. Actually, "The longest day" is the first non-fiction book on WWII I've read. So, what was I expecting? Detailed and technical descriptions of the battles, positions, and so on. What I got was much better. Ryan's research was tremendous. He was able to interview not only veterans of the Allied forces, but many german officers as well. So, instead of a pure technical account of D-day, Ryan could get lots of personal histories of what happened to many of american, british, canadian and german soldiers during June 6, 1944. What's best, Ryan doesn't treat the germans as human monsters, nor the Allied as super-heros. Ryan's vision of the soldiers during the D-day was just what most of them were: men fighting for what they believed correct (of course, Hitler is depicted in a lightly different way). The book is divided in three parts. The first one, "The wait", is about the preparations and struggles to get operation Overlord ready in time for launch in the right day. The second, "The night", is about the nocturnal part of the operation, the parachuters, submariners, etc. And the third part, "The day", is about the fight in the five Normandy beaches (Omaha, Utah, Juno, Sword and Gold) that would mark the beginning of the ending of the war for Germany. An important historical lesson, obrigatory for everyone who wants to understand what really happened in WWII, this is a short and direct book, easy to read and to understand. Great. Grade 9.3/10
Rating:  Summary: The longest day reviewed by a high school student. Review: I have seen the longest day and read the book. Obviously I am going to say I enjoyed the book more then the movie but I think they go hand in hand. The book is add suspense while the movie seems a little less serious and tries to add comic relief. Also the book is very detailed while the movie just brushes over a some accounts. I liked this book becuase it was, or felt like a series of actual personal events from various soldiers. For the most part the book sounds like soldiers letters or daries put into a fairly accurate timeline with d-day. My favorite account would be the german officer that was so shocked by the landing he didn't notice his boots where on backwards until after the day had passed.
Rating:  Summary: true classic : must read for war/history buffs Review: I had seen the movie earlier and read excerpts from time to time. I was not sure about the book, given that, we all know what happened at least at a high level. I bought the book used and ended up reading it cover to cover. Very thorough research. This is history told like a story. Small anecdotes for individuals, soldiers, generals, leaders give you an idea about how history was shaped
Rating:  Summary: Good book but now too dated Review: This was an awesome book when first written and it's still great to read now. But it's based on research now five decades old and can, as a result, be inaccurate or secretive in places. Nowardays we know about ULTRA and we have a fuller appreciation of German defensive strategies and mistakes. Still, I consider this a timeless work, and Even liked the movie of the same name by Zanuck. WWII collectors should own a copy.
Rating:  Summary: A Classic Account of D-Day Review: The first volume of what came to be known as Cornelius Ryan's World War II trilogy, (The Longest Day, The Last Battle, A Bridge Too Far) this 1959 best seller is considered by many critics and readers to be the classic account of D-Day, June 6, 1944. Taking its title from a quote by German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel - "Believe me, Lang, the first twenty-four hours of the invasion will be decisive...the fate of Germany depends on its outcome...for the Allies, as well as Germany, it will be the longest day." - Ryan's book deals with the Normandy landings. Based on hundreds of interviews with Allied, German, and French participants, for many years The Longest Day was the best of the many books written about what Stephen E. Ambrose once called the climactic battle of World War II. Ryan divides his book into three parts: The Wait, which tells how the Allies and the Germans prepared for the invasion; The Night, which describes the confusion and complications of the nighttime airborne assault; and The Day, which, of course, takes readers onto the five invasion beaches, where so many acts of bravery and so many horrific scenes took place. Ryan skillfully lets the accounts of the veterans from both warring sides blend into his crisp and clear prose, grabbing the reader's attention and never letting go. The Longest Day was followed by many other works on the topic of D-Day by such authors as David Howarth, John Keegan, Paul Carell ("the German Cornelius Ryan"), Max Hastings, and, of course, the late Stephen Ambrose. It was also abridged in several issues of Readers' Digest (which lent its support in research and interviewing participants), and was adapted into a major motion picture by Darryl F. Zanuck and 20th Century Fox in 1962.
Rating:  Summary: great read Review: Great combination of fact with a touch of the human drama.
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