Books by Cornelius Ryan
“A lot of people know about The Longest Day because it became a very expensive (and long) movie but it’s actually a pretty short book. You can read it in the time it takes you to get across the English Channel on the ferry. So if anybody is going to the Normandy beaches, they can just take The Longest Day. It’s the ultimate primer on D-Day and you can read it while sipping a beer or cup of tea in the bar on the cross-channel ferry. Cornelius Ryan interviewed hundreds of people for the book. It’s almost history as pointillism. He had access to an enormous amount of information. He sent out questionnaires. If you look at the Ryan archive, it shows you all the material that he gathered for The Longest Day, and it’s really impressive…as an introduction to D-Day that gives you the overall picture, that captures the drama and the enormity of it, and the heroism, and covers the German side as well as the Allied side, there’s nothing better. And I don’t think there ever will be.” Read more...
The best books on World War II Battles
Alex Kershaw, Historian
Interviews where books by Cornelius Ryan were recommended
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1
Stalingrad
by Antony Beevor -
2
The Longest Day
by Cornelius Ryan -
3
Reach for the Sky: The Story of Douglas Bader, Hero of the Battle of Britain
by Paul Brickhill -
4
To Hell and Back: The Classic Memoir of World War II by America's Most Decorated Soldier
by Audie Murphy -
5
The War: A Memoir
by Marguerite Duras
The best books on World War II Battles, recommended by Alex Kershaw
The best books on World War II Battles, recommended by Alex Kershaw
In World War II human beings were tested over and over again, and that is part of what explains its enduring fascination, says bestselling historian Alex Kershaw. He recommends five books of great storytelling that immerse you in the drama, the heroism and the tragedy of World War II and also have the benefit of being relatively short.
