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D-DAY: The Oral History

The Turning Point of WWII By the People Who Were There

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D-DAY: The Oral History

By: Garrett M. Graff
Narrated by: Various, Edoardo Ballerini, Graham Halstead, Mathew Lloyd Davies, Imogen Church, Gary Furlong, Saskia Maarleveld, Kevin R Free, Leon Nixon, James Langton, Garrett M. Graff
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About this listen

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A LANDMARK NEW ACCOUNT OF THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF WW2, IN THE WORDS OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED IT

**** 'Comprehensive... from a large and wide range of witnesses on both sides' -The Telegraph

'A sprawling history of D-Day from the point of view of participants on both sides.' -Kirkus

'A masterpiece of oral history. Stirring, surprising, grim, joyous, moving and always riveting.' -Evan Thomas

'A new, complete portrait in time for the 80th anniversary [...] Graff uses a wide array and diversity of voices that give a fuller picture of the lead-up to the invasion, as well as the fighting itself.' -Associated Press

On 6th June 1944, the Allied invasion began. For hours, wave after wave of soldiers, sailors, and airmen crossed the channel and stormed the Normandy coast, fighting to gain a foothold in Nazi-occupied Northwest Europe. It was the largest combined air and seaborne invasion ever, involving over 150,000 Allied troops on the ground, and its eventual success became a critical turning point in the war, spelling the beginning of the end for the Third Reich.

As the events of that day fade from living memory, it's more important than ever to understand what it felt like to be there and to live through it, on both sides. In this definitive work, Garrett M. Graff, the bestselling author of The Only Plane in the Sky: The Oral History of 9/11, compiles over 600 US, Canadian, UK, French and German voices to tell the full story of exactly how that historic day unfolded, in visceral detail - as well as the weeks and months leading up to it. From paratroopers to fighter pilots to nurses, generals, French villagers, German Defenders to Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, this is the most intimate re-telling of D-Day published to date.

©2024 Garrett M. Graff (P)2024 Orion Publishing Group Limited
Editors Select France Great Britain Military War Winston Churchill Air Force Aviation
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Editorial Review

Eight decades later, the voices of D-Day live on
It’s June 6, 1944, and along the beaches of Normandy, one of the most significant operations in military history is underway: Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France, and the beginning of the milestone campaign that would propel the Allies to victory in World War II. In When the Sea Came Alive, journalist Garrett M. Graff ventures to craft a comprehensive, compassionate portrait of the momentous event now known simply as “D-Day.” Graff curated the accounts of hundreds of folks intimately involved, from those who planned the assault, to those whose boots tread through the sand, to the French civilians who watched it all unfold. I’m really looking forward to hearing this one—like Graff’s Audie-winning The Only Plane in the Sky, this oral history is performed by a full cast including the author and decorated narrator Edoardo Ballerini, promising a chronicle that truly shines in audio.. — Alanna M., Audible Editor

What listeners say about D-DAY: The Oral History

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Better as an audiobook

Terrified by the number of pages, I chose the audio version of this book. It’s a good history of D- Day from an American perspective. (German views are available on Amazon.)
The British accents are sometimes entertaining in a Dick Van Dyke’s cockney accent in Mary Poppins sort of way. Interesting to learn that even US military blood banks were racially segregated. Gratifying to hear black GIs were accepted so well in wartime Britain.

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Another irritating narration

The book was ok, of course biased towards Americans. The irritating thing again was the voices affected to represent British people…Major John Howard was from a working class background…do the narrators not research the people they’re supposed to be representing? The narrator reading as Major John Howard sounded more like Terry-Thomas. Overall these ridiculous affected British voices spoiled what could have been a decent book

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Poignant stories of everyday people doing staggering things

I loved the effort the author went to in building a narrative out of the reports given by interconnected people at every stage of this momentous time.

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