Citizen soldiers: the U.S. Army from the Normandy beaches to the Bulge to the surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945

Stephen E. Ambrose

Simon & Schuster, 1997 - Biography & Autobiography - 528 pages

In this riveting account, historian Stephen Ambrose continues where he left off in his #1 bestseller D-Day. Ambrose again follows the individual characters of this noble, brutal, and tragic war, from the high command down to the ordinary soldier, drawing on hundreds of interviews to re-create the war experience with startling clarity and immediacy. From the hedgerows of Normandy to the overrunning of Germany, Ambrose tells the real story of World War II from the perspective of the men and women who fought it.

What people are saying

User Review -

I have read a great many war narratives, old and new, long and short, and this one was possibly the best, most personal war book I've ever read. Better than Black Hawk Down. Better than Band of Brothers. Better than The Coldest Winter. . .
I especially liked the way the book treated the approach to the borders of the Reich. The story of the stall of the advance, the long winter, the pointless, fruitless loss and death in the Hurtgen--the period between Normandy and the Bulge--didn't so much change the way I thought about the course of the war as it just expanded it in depth. Particularly, Citizen Soldiers was unmatched in presenting how this long autumn and winter 1944-1945 affected the individual soldiers not so much just then, but in the final push into Germany.
This book was a fast read, and engaging, but really gave the reader the sense of the slowness of time in miserable conditions.
I'll just stop, because I could continue for a while, but one final note. I've been in the airborne infantry, and I've been in the Army Reserve as a CS troop.
As such, the term, "Citizen Soldier" has been tainted by my experience of the term used today to describe the reserve soldier. They are people to be admired, but cannot compare to the discipline and training of the professional soldiery. For this reason, I avoided this book for a long time because I let my prejudices of the term in the title influence my expectations. Make no mistake, it is aptly named, but its title is its title, not the borrowed phrase.
The citizen soldiers of this title are not those of the modern army propaganda team, but rather those of whom Tyrtaeus spoke:
"For no man ever proves himself a good man in war
unless he can endure to face the blood and the slaughter,
go close against the enemy and fight with his hands.
Here is courage, mankind's finest possession, here is
the noblest prize that a young man can endeavor to win,
and it is a good thing his polis and all the people share with him
when a man plants his feet and stands in the foremost spears
relentlessly, all thought of foul flight completely forgotten,
and has trained his heart to be steadfast and to endure,
and with words encourages the man who is stationed beside him.
Here is a man who proves himself to be valiant in war.
With a sudden rush he turns to fight the rugged battalions
of the enemy, and sustains the beating waves of assault.
And he who so falls among the champions and loses his sweet life,
so blessing with honor his polis, his father, and all his people,
with wounds in his chest, where the spear that he was facing has transfixed
that massive guard of his shield, and gone through his breastplate as well,
why, such a man is lamented alike by the young and the elders,
and all his polis goes into mourning and grieves for his loss.
His tomb is pointed out with pride, and so are his children,
and his children's children, and afterward all the race that is his.
His shining glory is never forgotten, his name is remembered,
and he bcomes an immortal, though he lies under the ground,
when one who was a brave man has been killed by the furious War God
standing his ground and fighting hard for his children and land." 

Review: Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany

User Review  - Kevin Wilkinson - Goodreads

Finally an Ambrose book not about some politician who just happened to contribute to the war. This was a well written account of the American action in the European theater of operations. I did enjoy ...

Contents

• Maps: 11
• PART: 25
• Hedgerow Fighting: 56

About the author

Stephen C. Ambrose is the author of numerous books of history, including the New York Times bestsellers Undaunted Courage and D-Day, as well as multivolume biographies of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He is founder of the Eisenhower Center and President of the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans. He lives in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and Helena, Montana.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Citizen soldiers: the U.S. Army from the Normandy beaches to the Bulge to the surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945
• Author: Stephen E. Ambrose
• Contributor: Stephen E. Ambrose
• Edition: reprint, illustrated
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1997
• ISBN: 0684848015, 9780684848013
• Length: 528 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Military; History / General; History / Military / United States; History / Military / World War II; Soldiers; Soldiers - United States - History - 20th century; Soldiers/ United States/ History/ 20th century; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Western Front; World War, 1939-1945/ Campaigns/ Western Front