Genre: History
Author: Cornelius Ryan
Plot:
The Longest Day is simplistically a book about D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6th, 1944 during WWII. Less simplistically it is a tapestry of stories - stories collected from Allied soldiers, British and American generals, German beach commanders and fighter pilots, submariners, and the French citizens present on that day. These stories are woven together to yield a chronological description of D-Day, starting with the pre-dawn assault preparations. D-Day was day of enormous scale and this is well reflected emotionally in the book - for one example, a Frenchman describes watching a German delivering the morning coffee to the beach see the invasion fleet
"The man rode calmly down the road, turned the bend - and saw the fleet. For a second or two he sat motionless. Then he jumped off the horse, stumbled and fell, picked himself up and ran for cover. The horse continued slowly down the road to the village. The time was 6:15 am." (page 190)
"The man rode calmly down the road, turned the bend - and saw the fleet. For a second or two he sat motionless. Then he jumped off the horse, stumbled and fell, picked himself up and ran for cover. The horse continued slowly down the road to the village. The time was 6:15 am." (page 190)
Brian's Opinion:
I have read a fair bit of the WWII non-fiction genre and The Longest Day is hands down my favorite (number two and three are Ryan's other WWII books). It has the facts done well but impressively they are woven together with innumerable first-hand stories to the point that it reads like a fiction thriller.
Who would like it:
History and especially WWII buffs will love this book. If you like intense plots and emotional stories (Dan Brown comes to mind) but haven't forayed into this genre before, it would be an excellent introduction.
Buy:
Amazon Paperback
Amazon Instant Video
(free rental for Prime members, has John Wayne, is very true to the book, and is extremely long)- Brian
amazing book. best I ever read!
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