Publisher Description

A TRUE CELEBRATION OF HEROISM AND BRAVERY

From America's preeminent military historian, Stephen E. Ambrose, comes a brilliant telling of World War II in Europe, from D-Day, June 6, 1944, to the end, eleven months later, on May 7, 1945. The author himself drew this authoritative narrative account from his five acclaimed books about that conflict, to yield what has been called "the best single-volume history of the war that most of us will ever read."

Author Biography

Dr. Stephen Ambrose was a renowned historian and acclaimed aDr. Stephen Ambrose was a renowned historian and acclaimed author of more than 30 books. Among his "New York Times" bestuthor of more than 30 books. Among his "New York Times" best-sellers are: "Nothing Like It in the World, Citizen Soldier-sellers are: "Nothing Like It in the World, Citizen Soldiers, Band of Brothers, D-Day - June 6, 1944, " and "Undaunted s, Band of Brothers, D-Day - June 6, 1944, " and "Undaunted Courage".He was not only a great author, but also a captiCourage".He was not only a great author, but also a capti

Table of Contents

Contents Introduction 1 Preparation 2 Getting Started 3 Planning and Training for Overlord 4 "Ok, Let's Go" 5 The Opening Hours of D-Day 6 Utah Beach 7 Omaha Beach 8 Pointe-Du-Hoc 9 The British and Canadian Beaches 10 The End of the Day 11 Hedgerows 12 Breakout and Pursuit 13 At the German Border 14 Metz, Aachen, and the Hurtgen 15 The Battle of the Bulge 16 Night on the Line 17 The Rhineland Battles 18 Overrunning Germany 19 The GIs Sources Index Maps The Invasion of France, June 6-August 25, 1944 The Defeat of Germany, August 1944-May 1945

Review

Harry Crumpacker St. Petersburg Times No historian writing today understands and empathizes with the World Ware II generation of Americans better than Stephen Ambrose...Reading this book will leave only a profound understanding of an undeniable truth. Calvin L. Christman The Dallas Morning News A brief, readable, and necessary remembrance of a generation that met and overcome this century's greatest test. Theo Lippman, Jr. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Fresh and riveting. William R. Wineke Wisconsin State Journal The Victors is an absolutely wonderful book...a compelling narrative of a time when the average American youth exhibited heroism and grace to save the world. John Gregory Dunne The New Yorker [Ambrose's] skill at weaving his interviews into a good read is impressive. Nathaniel Tripp The New York Times Book Review Ambrose is a superb historian.

Kirkus US Review

Revisiting ground covered previously in his superb Citizen Soldiers (1997) and other works about the climactic European campaigns of 1944-45, distinguished historian Ambrose (Undaunted Courage, 1996, etc.) tells the story of the conquest of Nazism by an array of American, English, and Canadian kids led by the plain-spoken Dwight Eisenhower. As in his earlier works, Ambrose focuses on the stories of individuals - the men who planned and led the invasion, the junior officers and non-commissioned officers, and the ordinary citizen soldiers of the Allied armies. He traces the training of ordinary boys from Chicago, Kansas, and Georgia, and the rise of their commander, Dwight Eisenhower, through a variety of staff posts. "Ike," as he was known to absolutely everybody soon after his arrival in England in 1942, quickly became a favorite with the British press and with the often prickly English military establishment: He relied often on his considerable diplomatic skills to compel the British and American commanders to work together. However, the author faults the inefficiency of Ike's war of attrition and his failure to ensure that his army was adequately trained and equipped for battle. Most of the narrative is devoted to the travails of the individual soldier in combat. With photographic immediacy, Ambrose shows the pitilessly savage nature of the war as he takes the reader through hellish beach landings, sanguinary battles to liberate Normandy, pursuit through France, the terrifying aspects of trench, street, and night battle, setbacks to the Allied advance, and the ferocious but ultimately unsuccessful German counter-punch through the Ardennes. Meticulously researched and characteristically well told. A compelling and heartfelt tribute to the GI. (Kirkus Reviews)

Long Description

A TRUE CELEBRATION OF HEROISM AND BRAVERYFrom America's preeminent military historian, Stephen E. Ambrose, comes a brilliant telling of World War II in Europe, from D-Day, June 6, 1944, to the end, eleven months later, on May 7, 1945. The author himself drew this authoritative narrative account from his five acclaimed books about that conflict, to yield what has been called "the best single-volume history of the war that most of us will ever read."

Review Quote

William R. WinekeWisconsin State JournalThe Victorsis an absolutely wonderful book...a compelling narrative of a time when the average American youth exhibited heroism and grace to save the world.

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