The Boys of Pointe du Hoc

De: Douglas Brinkley

Narrado por: Douglas Brinkley

""These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. Theseare the men who took the cliffs. These are thechampions who helped free a continent. Theseare the heroes who helped end a war.""—Ronald Reagan, June 6, 1984,Normandy, France

Acclaimed historian and author of the ""New York Times"" bestselling Tour of Duty Douglas Brinkley tells the riveting account of the brave U.S. Army Rangers who stormed the coast of Normandy on D-Day and the President, forty years later, who paid them homage.

The importance of Pointe du Hoc to Allied planners like General Dwight Eisenhower cannot be overstated. The heavy U.S. and British warships poised in the English Channel had eighteen targets on their bombardment list for D-Day morning. The 100-foot promontory known as Pointe du Hoc -- where six big German guns were ensconced -- was number one. General Omar Bradley, in fact, called knocking out the Nazi defenses at the Pointe the toughest of any task assigned on June 6, 1944. Under the bulldoggish command of Colonel James E. Rudder of Texas, who is profiled here, these elite forces ""Rudder's Rangers"" -- took control of the fortified cliff. The liberation of Europe was under way.

Based upon recently released documents from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the Eisenhower Center, Texas A & M University, and the U.S. Army Military History Institute, The Boys of Pointe du Hoc is the first in-depth, anecdotal remembrance of these fearless Army Rangers. With brilliant deftness, Brinkley moves between two events four decades apart to tell the dual story of the making of Reagan's two uplifting 1984 speeches, considered by many to be among the best orations the Great Communicator ever gave, and the actual heroic event, which was indelibly captured as well in the opening scenes of Steven Spielberg's ""Saving Private Ryan"".Just as compellingly, Brinkley tells the story of how Lisa Zanatta Henn, the daughter of a D-Day veteran, forged a special friendship with President Reagan that changed public perceptions of World War II veterans forever. Two White House speechwriters -- Peggy Noonan and Tony Dolan -- emerge in the narrative as the master scribes whose ethereal prose helped Reagan become the spokesperson for the entire World War II generation.

©2005 Douglas Brinkley; (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Not quite what I was hoping...

First I would like to say that this is a good book, however it is more a history of a speech that was given in memorium than the battle itself. This made the book quite dissapointing for me. I feel that the actual telling of the trials and tribulations that these men went through was cut short in order to inform the reader of a few speech writers, interesting yes, but not what I expected and perhaps that is my fault. I like listening to books that detail obscenely difficult circumstances so that I can not find a reason to quit walking/running at mile 30. This book is only inspirational for about the first two hours, then it cuts over to people who got to sleep in a bed every night.

An Heroic Story Well Told

Professor Brinkley's account of the heroic efforts of the Army 2nd Ranger Battalion on D-day and the inspiration they gave President Reagan is captured in a moving narrative. Well written and well read by the author.

loved it

Loved it. God bless America ....and all those who fought for her and love her.

Rangers and good American values.

I wnjoyed the first two to three chapters the most. It covered the history of the Rangers and some of their exploits of WW2. A bit long winded about speech writing and politics. This was more admiration for the speech writer and Ronald Reagan. The advocating of good American values was a strong point.

The Boys...

A decent chronicle of the Pointe du Hoc mission and President Reagan's leadership at a critical time in Military History for the United States.