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The Victors
From the very beginning of the book I was enticed.I thought it was very well written and an enjoyable read.It includes stories and things I would have never expected.I thought the relationship between Marshall and Eisenhower was most interesting.I had not learned much about Marshall and Eisenhower's personalities.They were opposites yet worked very well together.Their relationship was based on trust. It is inspirational to hear of all that our soldiers went through during World War II.As someone looking back it helped me to better understand what went on and what the soldiers experienced first hand.I thought "The Victors" was a wonderful book and spanned over a good period of time.I would highly recommend it to others as a World War II informative book.

Fighting in the cold
This covers the European theater from D day to the end. Sort of a best of Stephen Ambrose
I have read most of the books by Ambrose and the material in The Victors is covered better in his other works.It isn;t bad, but the only reader who might find it interesting is someone who was looking to get into Ambrose's WWII works.Anyone else but the completists will probably not enjoy this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Abridged Audio - History    3. Abridged Audio - Misc. Nonfiction    4. Audio Adult: Other    5. Audiobooks    6. Campaigns    7. History    8. Military - United States    9. Military - World War II    10. Soldiers    11. United States    12. United States - General    13. Western Front    14. World War, 1939-1945    15. History / General   

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Biased
I read Flags of Our Fathers and enjoyed it more than Flyboys.Bradley has a writing style that is difficult at times as has personal biases come through very clearly.As one other reviewer has written, I found it very odd that he often referred to MG Curtis LeMay as "Curtis."As someone writing about military history, Bradley should have more respect for the uniform and should not call a two star general by his first name like he is talking about one of his golfing buddies.This was very distracting.I also found the first couple of chapters of his history lesson very tedious and unfocused - so much so that I nearly quit reading the book.The latter chapters pick up the pace and are insightful.Bradley also devotes too much time attempting to demonize the American firebombing tactics.Thankfully Bradley's bias and negativity toward the Navy and Army is not as pronounced in Flyboys as in FOOF.This bias is especially odd considering his father was a Navy Corpsman.

Desire to moralize reaches too far
I assume that the author is attempting to show that war creates an environment in which morally degenerate acts become much more likely, if not all but inevitable, on all sides of the conflict.In doing so, however, the author very frequently stretches the blanket of history too far, as when he suggests that the Japanese would have remained forever content to be isolated on their home islands if the American fleet had not paid an uninvited visit to Tokyo Bay in 1853-54 and taught the Japanese the foreign policy advantages of a strong navy.While most historians would agree that the U.S. Navy's visit served the royal court with a wake-up call regarding the existence of a world beyond Japan, that is not the same thing as assuming that without this visit no other internal or external events over the next 70 years would have spurred the Japanese to look beyond their shores and trade an isolationist philosophy for an imperial one.
Fascinating!
I found this to be a fascinating account of the war in the Pacific, and I was impressed with the fact that the author imparts a deep appreciation for America and the sacrifices our soldiers made but can still step back and look objectively at the mistakes on both sides.Does examining our own faults release the other side from responsibility for their crimes, as some other reviewers seem to feel?I don't believe so; I think it's healthy for us to examine our history so we don't make the same mistakes again.It's too bad that some people lump any critique of our own actions into the "pop-revisionist history" category.
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Subjects:  1. Atrocities    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Biography    4. Chichi Island    5. General    6. History    7. Japan    8. Military    9. Military - World War II    10. Military History - World War II    11. Prisoners Of War    12. Prisoners and prisons, Japanese    13. Unabridged Audio - History    14. World War, 1939-1945    15. Biography & Autobiography / Military   

Editorial Review

The Battle of Iwo Jima, fought in the winter of 1945 on a rocky island south of Japan, brought a ferocious slice of hell to earth: in a month's time, more than 22,000 Japanese soldiers would die defending a patch of ground a third the size of Manhattan, while nearly 26,000 Americans fell taking it from them. The battle was a turning point in the war in the Pacific, and it produced one of World War II's enduring images: a photograph of six soldiers raising an American flag on the flank of Mount Suribachi, the island's commanding high point.Read more

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"Flags of Our Fathers" - A Timely Look at a Bloody Battle in Our History
Quite a while ago, Nick Olmsted, a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, recommended that I read "Flags of Our Fathers." I am glad that I finally got around to taking his advice. This story struck me on many levels at once, and this seems to be an opportune time to share some of my thoughts about this remarkable book, written by James Bradley, the son of one of the six Marines whose iconic picture of the raising of the flag over Iwo Jima riveted a war-weary nation.
A hard book to read.
World War II seems such a long time ago for so many of us. Most Americans today weren't yet born when it took place. For this reason, I believe everyone old enough to comprehend its stories should read this book. James Bradley and Ron Powers have written a heart-pounding record of the thirty-five bloody days it took to wrest Iwo Jima (Sulfur Island) from the Japanese. The photograph of the raising of the American flag on Mt. Suribachi (1/400th of a second's space in time) is recognized around the world. The men who raised it: John "Doc" Bradley (the author's father);Harlon Block; Rene Gagnon; Ira Hayes; Franklin Sousley; and Mike Strank became instant heroes (though Block, Sousley and Strank died not long after). Bradley, Hayes and Gagnon lived to tell the tale, though both Hayes and Gagnon would die with the pain of their experiences on Iwo Jima seared into their psyches to the point they could not live with it successfully.
1/400th of a second in time
"It's funny what a picture can do":1/400th of a second in time.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    3. Abridged Audio - History    4. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    5. Historical - U.S.    6. History    7. Iwo Jima, Battle of, 1945    8. Military    9. Military - United States    10. Military - World War II    11. Photographs    12. Photography    13. World War, 1939-1945    14. History / Military / World War II   

Editorial Review

The 2003 American invasion of Iraq was contentious, not just in the arena of global public opinion, but within the tight-lipped world of the George W. Bush White House. As Bob Woodward reveals in Read more

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The 'art' of equivocation.....
Mr Woodward: You are confusing us.
SHOCK AND AWE
It was published in '04, and now, reading it in 09/06, as a latecomer all I can say is, it reads like the careful planning and pains-taking execution of an earth-shattering catastrophe.Years from now I expect George Bush will replace James Buchanan as America's worst president. For this reason alone, the book is or ought to be required reading.It is absolutely fascinating, even now as we look at the smoking ruins of cities and the heaps of corpses, both civilian and military. Less "why we went to war," more "how we went to war"
If you're anything like me, then you've probably been frustrated on more than one occasion when you've looked through your local bookstore's/library's collection of current political events books in a vain attempt to educate yourself as to what has happened in our world since 2000.Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward was my first attempt to learn more about the causes and effects of events that have shaped recent history.I picked it because Bob Woodward was a familiar name (he helped expose the Watergate scandal) out of the dozens of unfamiliar ones and it claimed to have more personal interview time with key people than others on the same subject.
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Subjects:  1. (George Walker),    2. 1946-    3. Abridged Audio - History    4. Abridged Audio - Misc. Nonfiction    5. Audiobooks    6. Bush, George W.    7. General    8. Government - Executive Branch    9. Iraq War, 2003    10. Military leadership    11. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    12. Political Science    13. Politics/International Relations    14. United States - 21st Century    15. Current Events / General   

Reviews (308)

boring, plotles, dull
I, Like many other unfortunate youth, had to read this book for school and do journal responses for each chapter. I did the assingnment with little difficulty without finishing the book. It was that predictable! I only read the first two chapters before I could do the responses with little trouble.
My brother sam is dead
Over the summer I read My brother sa is dead by James luneden Collier and Christopher Coliier. As one of my favorite books, there was many things i liked about I found interesting. When reading this book, you forget about reality and you start to feel as if you were in the story yourself.
Great Book to Spark an Early Interest in History
James Lincoln and Christopher Collier's story "my brother Sam is dead" begins at the dawn of the Revolution, a time when Loyalists felt much the same as Mr. Beach's remark to Sam in Chapter 1: "I think men of common sense will prevail. Nobody wants a rebellion except fools and hotheads." Doubtful or unaware of just how focused and set on independence from the Crown of England the Rebel militia actually were, the loyalists or tories of Colonial America were caught off guard when they realized "Live Free or Die" was more than a motto is was a commitment.
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Subjects:  1. Audio: Juvenile    2. Audiobooks    3. Children's Audio - Young Adult    4. Children's audiobooks    5. Historical - Military & Wars    6. Historical - United States - Colonial    7. History - Military & Wars    8. Juvenile Nonfiction    9. Social Issues - Death & Dying    10. American English    11. Warfare & defence   

Editorial Review

In the first significant engagement between American troops and the Viet Cong, 450 U.S. soldiers found themselves surrounded and outnumbered by their enemy. This book tells the story of how they battled between October 23 and November 26, 1965. Its prose is gritty, not artful, delivering a powerful punch of here-and-now descriptions that could only have been written by people actually on the scene. In fact, they were: Harold Moore commanded the men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, who did most of the fighting, and Joseph Galloway was the only reporter present throughout the battle's 34 harrowing days. Read more

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Meeting these men has been an honor!
Knowing some of the people involved with this true story and having met General Harold Moore and Joe Galloway a few years ago I felt a necessity to read the general's book "We Were Soldiers Once and Young." They wanted the truth told so Americans could learn about one particular unit and the major battle they fought in 1965.
Essential Reading For All
As a non-American living in the US for a year, I bought this book to learn more about the Vietnam war.It didn't really serve its purpose in this respect - and that was my fault - but it more than made up for it by being one of the best war books I've ever read.This stands easily alongside anything Stephen Ambrose ever wrote.The authenticity is one hundred per cent because these authors were there - their passion, emotion and commitment to their mean comes screaming through the pages.As does their frustration with military top brass and politicians.I'll never forget finishing the book on a Sunday morning, sitting up in bed, tears streaming down my face as I read of the impact of the deaths of those brave men who perished.The consequences hit generation after generation.This book is essential reading now because it highlights the futility of war and the no-win situation that America repeatedly puts itself into.

The Birth of Air Cav
This book tells the true account of the battle of Ia Drang. NO book could have captured the intense battles a well as this has. After reading some war books about vietnam and World War II, I have only one thing to say, This is possibly the greatest recration in words of the actual battles I have ever read! Read this book and understand the true horrors of battle. With the release of 'We Were Soldiers' there is no doubt that this book will become more popular than it already is. God Bless America. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - History    2. Abridged Audio - Misc. Nonfiction    3. Audio Adult: Other    4. General    5. History    6. Ia Drang Valley (Vietnam), Battle of, 1965    7. Military - Vietnam War    8. Specimens    9. Talking books    10. History / General   

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Not one of Keegan's better works
This is a disappointing work by the esteemed historian John Keegan.His thesis is that, despite many platitudes to the contrary, intelligence is rarely if ever the decisive factor on the battlefield; battles and campaigns are won by the application of maneuver and firepower.Unfortunately, the campaigns that Keegan uses to illustrate this fail to do so.
Some good examples of intelligence
From the title, we would think that we would get as much about Al-Qaeda as about Napoleon; however, that is not the case.The former is merely a bit of an afterthought on the rest of the book, which goes into specific instances where intelligence went awry through misunderstanding or misuse.
Not Keegan's best, but still an important book
It would seem that many of this book's reviewers have completely missed Keegan's point in writing `Intelligence in War'. This book was never intended as a comprehensive account of any particular campaign or battle (much less an entire theatre of WW2!) and nor was it intended as a general history of the role intelligence has played in wars throughout history (though the publisher does seem guilty of marketing it as such a general history, which may explain why many people who purchased the bok were disappointed with it).
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Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - History    2. Audio - Nonfiction    3. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    4. Audiobooks    5. General    6. History    7. Intelligence Operations    8. Military - General    9. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    10. Military Science    11. Military intelligence    12. History / Military / General   

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Very enjoyable and well done
Not a bad book at all. Dean Joy joined the war late because of an interesting school deferment. He wanted to fly the famous P-51 Mustang but ended up the71st Infantry Division. The book is very interesting reading about a unit that doesn't get a lot of press because they entered the war so late. The book is an easy read, very well written, and provides a good overview of the end of the war. Of particular interest is his description of four captured P-51 Mustangs that were converted to German use.

Good WWII Memoir of Combat Described by Young American GI
A must for WWII History buffs, but an easy read for all readers.The author recalls how he wanted, along with many other young U.S high school grads to register for military service in WWII and to "fly". With his easy writing style and incredible drawings, Dean Joy pulls you into his daily disappointments as he realized he would fight as an infantryman. You feel what he did as he writes letters home to his beloved parents. Its as though I actually felt, saw, and heard, what this young man did.The remarkable discription of the different sounds of artillery, the German towns and rivers that the Allies went through, the pride of being in Patton's 3rd Army.Along with the author, I hated the "Krauts" and sorrowed over German civilians losing homes and farms to the ravages of war.I literally "willed" this young man to make it home. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - History    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Audiobooks    4. Campaigns    5. General    6. History    7. Military - World War II    8. Personal narratives, American    9. Western Front    10. World War, 1939-1945    11. History / Military / World War II   

Editorial Review

Published to mark the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, Stephen E. Ambrose's Read more

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Good account of the US involvement at D-Day
Several others sum up my feelings on this book, so I will keep it brief.
One of Ambrose's best works.
I recently finished Band of Brothers and was amazed and how great a writer Ambrose was.So I ordered D-Day, Citizen Soldiers and The Victors.I'm roughly half-way through D-Day and can already say that it is one of the best books I've ever read.I work on second shift and get off work at 11:30 PM.I go home and start reading and can't put this book down.The next thing I know I look at the clock and it's 3 or 4 in the morning, and I can't believe the time went by so fast.Ambrose was a brilliant military historian.His descriptions of everything is so detailed.If you've watched Band of Brothers on TV you owe it to yourself to check out some of Ambrose's other works.I know you'll love them.

Fails as a military history book
The oral history approach by Ambrose & Co offers certainly has its attraction. And if this book would have consisted of personal accounts of D-Day veterans only, I think it would have made a valuable, insightful, and memorable account of this landmark battle.
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Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - History    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Audiobooks    4. Campaigns    5. France    6. General    7. Military - World War II    8. Normandy    9. World War, 1939-1945    10. History / General   

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Reviews (74)

The Navy's Finest Hour
This was a wonderful book, shedding much light on the much maligned and neglected Tin Can Navy, these men past and present do much, more with so much less and all are a tribute to the resourcefulness of the Sailor, period. So much useful history that would pass untold if it were not for this book and others like it. The story was recalled in a very fond, but firm and affable presentation. I really enjoyed this book, and as a retired Tin Can Sailor, I can relate to much in this book. Honorable men commiting honorable deeds, for self, for shipmate and for country. I thank each of these men that served for thier history and sacrifice.

A Story of Bravery for the Ages
This is undoubtedly one of the finest books I have ever read on warfare in my 45 years of reading books about war.
Very good, well done
This is a very good and compelling naval battle tale that really exposes the heroism of the men of the American Navy during WWII. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - History    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Audiobooks    4. History    5. Leyte Gulf, Battle of, Philippines, 1944    6. Military - Naval    7. Military - United States    8. Military - World War II    9. Military History - World War II    10. Naval Operations    11. Naval operations, American    12. World War, 1939-1945    13. History / Military / World War II   

Editorial Review

It was not long after the first Japanese bombs fell on the American naval ships at Pearl Harbor that conspiracy theories began to circulate, charging that Franklin Roosevelt and his chief military advisors knew of the impending attack well in advance. Robert Stinnett, who served in the U.S. Navy with distinction during World War II, examines recently declassified American documents and concludes that, far more than merely knowing of the Japanese plan to bomb Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt deliberately steered Japan into war with America.Read more

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Disturbing
Gives overwhelming proof that FDR provoked the Japanese attack primarily through denying access to natural resources in Indonesia via the Dutch government in exile, and also by giving support to Chinese resistance fighters.The motive behind the provocation was to ensure that the American people would support a war against Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan that they did not wish to be involved in prior to December 7, 1941. Instead of trying to convince the American people that war would be inevitable against Fascism; condescendingly assured of their stupidity, FDR sacrificed 2500 sailors in order to mobilize the nation for war.
A Review of Someof the Reviews.
There is a strong political bit to the negative reviews.It reminds me a little of creationists reviewing an evolutionary biology work.
What our government doesn't want us to know
This book is eye opening in many respects.
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Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Misc. Nonfiction    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Diplomatic history    4. History    5. History & Theory - General    6. Intelligence service    7. Leadership    8. Military - World War II    9. Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941    10. Political Process - Leadership    11. Unabridged Audio - History    12. United States    13. World War, 1939-1945    14. History / General   

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For Those Fans of 'Band of Brothers' That Want More.
The book is Dick Winters Memoirs and as such is a rehash of Ambrose's "Band of Brothers" from his point of view.As such the reader gets another look at the events in the History of Easy Company from the Book and the Movie from the Normandy Campaign to the end of the War.
Medal of Honor for Major Winters
Best book ever.The hard thing is to remeber while reading this book is this is a true story.After reading this great book and you feel compelled as I you can go to the Major Winters wen site and sign a petition for him to receive the Medal of Honor.I should note that this is not being endorsed by Major Winters which is consistant with his character. [..]

Winters' Story...In His Own Modest Words
Like most other readers, I purchased this book on the strength of Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers and the popular HBO series of the same name. So when I saw that Winters was publishing his memoirs, I knew that I'd get around to reading it sooner or later.
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Subjects:  1. Aerial operations, American    2. Campaigns    3. History    4. Military    5. Military - General    6. Military - United States    7. Military - World War II    8. Personal narratives, American    9. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    10. Western Front    11. Wo