The soldiers' stories, drawn from the acclaimed works of historian Stephen E. Ambrose. The book covers the preparation for the invasion of Europe through the end of the campaign to defeat Germany on May 7, 1945. It's a compilation of information previously published in other works by the author. It's a good overview of what the American soldiers went through during the war in Europe. ( )

Like others, I had previously read many of Ambrose's books about World War II and knew that much of this book would be a repeat of that material, but I was pleasantly surprised that although the author often covered the same battles and geographic area, he did so in a different way and with newly added material, so that I didn't feel I was wasting my reading time because I had been there and done that. I appreciated learning new things and seeing them in a new way. The book brought back to me the incredible debt we all owe to the millions of courageous Allies who fought and often died to give us the freedoms we have today. ( )

Having read, and enjoyed, several of Ambrose's WWII books (e.g., D-Day, Citizen Soldiers, Band of Brothers), I was a little put off by the "Best of..." concept, as another reviewer called it. Overall, though, it added to my knowledge of WW II. I was a little disappointed by the "Cliff Notes" approach to a history of WW II. I would have been better served by reading his other books (and other authors' works) on the subject.. ( )

The back of this book proclaims it “The Definitive Single-Volume History of the Second World War”. While it is true that it is a single volume it cannot claim to be definitive.

The book looks at the European Theatre of Operations and really only considers operations from the planning and execution of Operation Overlord (D-Day) onwards, and then largely from the perspective of the US GI (which is very reasonable as Ambrose is a US History Professor).

The book is well researched, based on many first hand account of the War the Ambrose has gathered over 40 years of work. They are woven together into a very readable account of the Allied invasion of Europe through to the collapse of the Third Reich. He looks at most events from the perspective of Supreme commander Dwight Eisenhower and that on the Solders, NCOs and Junior Officers who carried out each campaign. There are little asides from the German point of view. Ambrose is very interested in making you aware of the hardships faced by the lower ranks rather than the overall strategy envisioned by high command – it is a book about the man on the ground.

While it is a well written and easy to follow book it is let down by the lack of addressing the darker side of the War for both sides in the treatment of prisoners and killing on both sides. This omission fits with the overall thrust of the book – to the man on the ground, whom Ambrose clearly admires but not fitting with a definitive account of the war – or even the European Theatre of Operations.

A book worth reading but not one that lives up to the back cover hyping. ( )