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Originally Posted by Catlady
How does Beevor's D-Day book compare with the Ambrose and Ryan D-Day books?
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Some thoughts, based on my memory of the books (it's been awhile).
Beevor's book is great IMO. Very good at capturing the big picture while mixing in stuff from more personal accounts. He gets very gritty at times and it can be quite chilling reading about events (such as the account of Omaha Beach). He doesn't stop at the beach heads being established like others, but covers more of the entire Normandy campaign. Larger in scope than the others.
Ryan is a classic. He knows how to tell a story you don't want to put down & a book anyone with interest in WWII should read. Basically gives you the 24 hours of "D-Day". Well researched and put together boots on the ground perspective. You're swept along as event unfold throughout the invasion. A classic, but still relevant.
Ambrose definitely knows how to tell a story. It's more of a soldiers eye view of things and often doesn't get across how some of the smaller actions discussed played into the bigger picture. A valuable collection of stories from those who were there. He's often criticized for not always having his facts right and just taking soldier accounts as is.