Mr. N Takes Over N. N. Light's Book Heaven While Honoring #DDay and #WorldWarTwo With His Top 5

We have come once more to the anniversary of D-Day. As time goes by the impression is that the day is dimming in the minds of today's generations and that would be sad. We can never stop honoring the brave men who gave their all and died trying and those that survived to free Europe from the yoke of Tyranny. If nothing else the news cycle of today should remind people how quickly a populace can be swayed by a strident voice...it happened in Germany in 1933 and took an effort like D-Day to finally start the return to freedom to Europe.

There are some amazing books I own that tell this story...

D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II by Stephen E. Ambrose

Stephen E. Ambrose’s D-Day is the definitive history of World War II’s most pivotal battle, a day that changed the course of history.

D-Day is the epic story of men at the most demanding moment of their lives, when the horrors, complexities, and triumphs of life are laid bare. Distinguished historian Stephen E. Ambrose portrays the faces of courage and heroism, fear and determination—what Eisenhower called “the fury of an aroused democracy”—that shaped the victory of the citizen soldiers whom Hitler had disparaged.Drawing on more than 1,400 interviews with American, British, Canadian, French, and German veterans, Ambrose reveals how the original plans for the invasion had to be abandoned, and how enlisted men and junior officers acted on their own initiative when they realized that nothing was as they were told it would be.

The action begins at midnight, June 5/6, when the first British and American airborne troops jumped into France. It ends at midnight June 6/7. Focusing on those pivotal twenty-four hours, it moves from the level of Supreme Commander to that of a French child, from General Omar Bradley to an American paratrooper, from Field Marshal Montgomery to a German sergeant.

Ambrose’s D-Day is the finest account of one of our history’s most important days.

The Ultra Secret How The British Broke The German Code by F.W. Winterbotham

Operation Ultra was designed to intercept and decode German signals sent using Enigma, the top-secret German cypher machine. F.W. Winterbotham, was the man responsible for the organization, distribution and security of Ultra. This is his personal account of the operation.

The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Day by Cornelius Ryan

The unparalleled work of history that recreates the battle that changed World War II -- now in a new edition for the 50th anniversary of D-Day.

Newly in print for the first time in years, this is the classic story of the invasion of Normandy, and a book that endures as a masterpiece of living history. A compelling tale of courage and heroism, glow and tragedy, The Longest Day 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.

For this new edition of The Longest Day, the original photographs used in the first 1959 edition have been reassembled and painstakingly reproduced, and the text has been freshly reset. Here is a book that is a must for any follower of history, as well as for anyone who wants to better understand how free nations prevailed at a time when darkness enshrouded the earth.

D-Day: The First 24 Hours by Will Fowler

In any military operation throughout history, few 24-hour periods have been as crucial as that of June 6 of 1994. Nearly 7000 ships landed over 132,000 US, British and Canadian troops on the beaches of Normandy in the biggest amphibious landing ever attempted. During that first day the allied forces were at their most vulnerable to German counterattack. Had the landings failed, the course of the war would have been altered. With the aid of specially commissioned maps, D-Day The First 24 Hours narrates the dramatic history of the first 24 hours of the Normandy landings, and explains in detail the events that occurred in each landing zone. With first-hand accounts from both sides, vivid color photographs, and specially commissioned maps of the landing areas and combat zones, D-Day The First 24 Hours is a comprehensive examination of the first 24 hours of the liberation of Europe.

Black Watch: Liberating Europe and Catching Himmler -- My Extraordinary WW2 with the Highland Division by Tom Renouf

As a 19-year old Black Watch conscript Tom Renouf's war began with some of the most vicious fighting of the conflict - against Himmler's fanatical 'Hitler Youth' SS Division. It ended with the capture of Himmler himself and Tom taking a trophy he still treasures - the Gestapo commander's watch.

Seriously wounded and later decorated with a Military Medal for gallantry, Tom Renouf witnessed the death and maiming of countless of his teenage comrades and saw the survivors transformed into grizzled veterans.

Tom Renouf draws on his own personal experiences - as well as his unique archive of interviews with veterans amassed over twenty years as secretary of the 51st Highland Division Veterans' Association - to paint a vivid picture of the Battle of Normandy, the liberation of Holland, the Battle of the Bulge and many more memorable WW2 events.

Happy Reading and remember, sharing is much appreciated.

Mr. N, Historian and World War II History Reader