Prize-winning True Stories of the Supreme Moment—When Men Suddenly Face Death Some of these true stories are already famous because they have been dramatized on television. All of them take you straight to the heart of great moments of crisis. You’ll know what it’s like to look down at the wide Pacific and realize that your plane is going to ditch there. You’ll twist the wheel of your racing car as it takes a narrow turn at Indianapolis. You’ll struggle in cabin 56 of the S.S. Andrèa Doria during its five last frantic hours. In these and other stories, Cornelius Ryan, ace journalist, has caught the essence of that split-second that may be a man’s last. Two of these pieces have won Benjamin Franklin Magazine awards. “One Minute To Ditch!”—Thirty-one men, women and children high over the mid-Pacific in a failing plane. (Dramatized on TV.) Five Desperate Hours in Cabin 56—A story of the sinking of the S.S. Andrèa Doria told in gripping minute-by-minute detail. (Dramatized on TV.) The Major of St. Lô—A classic of the Normandy invasion, an unforgettable true story of quiet heroism. (Dramatized on TV.) These and other factual accounts are moving documents of crisis: of courage against the sudden fact of very possible death.
The classic account of the final offensive against Hitler’s Third Reich. The Battle for Berlin was the culminating struggle of World War II in the European theater, the last offensive against Hitler’s Third Reich, which devastated one of Europe’s historic capitals and marked the final defeat of Nazi Germany. It was also one of the war’s bloodiest and most pivotal battles, whose outcome would shape international politics for decades to come. The Last Battle is Cornelius Ryan’s compelling account of this final battle, a story of brutal extremes, of stunning military triumph alongside the stark conditions that the civilians of Berlin experienced in the face of the Allied assault. As always, Ryan delves beneath the military and political forces that were dictating events to explore the more immediate imperatives of survival, where, as the author describes it, “to eat had become more important than to love, to burrow more dignified than to fight, to exist more militarily correct than to win.” The Last Battle is the story of ordinary people, both soldiers and civilians, caught up in the despair, frustration, and terror of defeat. It is history at its best, a masterful illumination of the effects of war on the lives of individuals, and one of the enduring works on World War II.
The unparalleled, classic work of history that recreates the battle that changed World War II—the Allied invasion of Normandy. The Longest Day is Cornelius Ryan’s unsurpassed account of D-Day, a book that endures as a masterpiece of military history. In this compelling tale of courage and heroism, glory and tragedy, Ryan painstakingly recreates the fateful hours that preceded and followed the massive invasion of Normandy to retell the story of an epic battle that would turn the tide against world fascism and free Europe from the grip of Nazi Germany. This book, first published in 1959, is a must for anyone who loves history, as well as for anyone who wants to better understand how free nations prevailed at a time when darkness enshrouded the earth.
June 6, 2014 marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day, when 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany and essentially spur the campaign that would end World War II. Nowhere are the landings at Normandy captured more eloquently and dramatically than in Cornelius Ryan's classic book "The Longest Day." Widely considered to be the most important book on D-Day ever written, "The Longest Day" has sold tens of millions of copies in 18 different languages, and inspired a star-studded 1962 film by the same name. This new collector's edition of "The Longest Day" commemorates the 70th anniversary of the invasion with previously unpublished printed and audio archive material. Inside the beautifully designed slipcase, readers will find an unabridged reprint of the classic text, 120 meticulously researched photographs of D-Day, plus 30 previously unseen and unpublished removable facsimile documents from Ryan's own archive, including: Eisenhower's handwritten note, taking responsibility if the D-Day landings failed Interview transcripts and handwritten research questionnaires from key D-Day participants Rommel's diary excerpts from the lead-up to D-Day in May 1944 Hand-annotated translations of German diaries and telephone logs D-Day mission weather reports Ryan's original book proposal to "Reader's Digest" explaining his new approach to military history writing Six full-color battle maps Historians, military enthusiasts, and anyone who genuinely loves tales of adventure and courage will be thrilled by this unsurpassed collection of D-Day memorabilia. It includes an exclusive audio CD featuring Ryan's previously unheard, original research interviews with many of D-Day's senior commanders, including Allied Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, as well as the soldiers, paratroopers, sailors, and airmen who fought in this most famous and decisive battle of World War II.
This is the story of D-Day, told through the voices of over 1,000 survivors. 6 June, 1944. 156,000 troops from 12 different countries, 11,000 aircraft, 7,000 naval vessels, 24 hours. D-Day - the beginning of the Allied invasion of Hitler's formidable 'Fortress Europe' - was the largest amphibious invasion in history. There has never been a battle like it, before or since. But beyond the statistics and over sixty years on, what is it about the events of D-Day that remain so compelling? The courage of the men who fought and died on the beaches of France? The sheer boldness of the invasion plan? Or the fact that this, Rommel's 'longest day', heralded the beginning of the end of World War II? One of the defining battles of the war, D-Day is scored into the imagination as the moment when the darkness of the Third Reich began to be swept away. This story is told through the voices of over 1,000 survivors - from high-ranking Allied and German officers, to the paratroopers who landed in Normandy before dawn, the infantry who struggled ashore and the German troops who defended the coast. Cornelius Ryan captures the horror and the glory of D-Day, relating in emotive and compelling detail the years of inspired tactical planning that led up to the invasion, its epic implementation and every stroke of luck and individual act of heroism that would later define the battle.
The classic account of one of the most dramatic battles of World War II. A Bridge Too Far is Cornelius Ryan's masterly chronicle of the Battle of Arnhem, which marshalled the greatest armada of troop-carrying aircraft ever assembled and cost the Allies nearly twice as many casualties as D-Day. In this compelling work of history, Ryan narrates the Allied effort to end the war in Europe in 1944 by dropping the combined airborne forces of the American and British armies behind German lines to capture the crucial bridge across the Rhine at Arnhem. Focusing on a vast cast of characters—from Dutch civilians to British and American strategists to common soldiers and commanders—Ryan brings to life one of the most daring and ill-fated operations of the war. A Bridge Too Far superbly recreates the terror and suspense, the heroism and tragedy of this epic operation, which ended in bitter defeat for the Allies.
The Longest Day is one of the best-selling military history books of all time. Its author, war journalist Cornelius Ryan, created a new style of military-history writing based on interview research with hundreds of battle participants. The book was made into the legendary war movie in 1962. This beautifully designed new archive edition is published to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day in 2014. For the first time, Ryan's unabridged classic text is enhanced with the addition of 120 stunning photographs and the inclusion of 30 previously unpublished removable facsimile documents from the Cornelius Ryan Archive, as well as an audio CD featuring Ryan's original research interviews with those who fought this most famous and decisive battle.
Arnhem 1944: the airborne strike for the bridges over the Rhine. The true story of the greatest battle of World War II and the basis of the 1977 film of the same name, directed by Richard Attenborough. The Battle of Arnhem, one of the most dramatic battles of World War II, was as daring as it was ill-fated. It cost the Allies nearly twice as many casualties as D-Day. This is the whole compelling story, told through the vast cast of characters involved. From Dutch civilians to British and American strategists, its scope and ambition is unparalleled, superbly recreating the terror and suspense, the heroism and tragedy of this epic operation. 'I know of no other work of literature of World War II as moving, as awesome and as accurate in its portrayal of human courage.' - General James A Gavin
Two correspondents in Tokyo describe, breezily and none too reverently, various phases of the American occupation of Japan, including MacArthur’s efforts to lay a basis for democratic government. They do not impugn the General’s motives, but they feel that he is relying on the very people who backstopped Japanese expansionism before and are preparing to do it again.
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