I'm somewhat surprised that Stephen Ambrose was an actual historian, back before the plagiarism scandals and shoddy work that put the period on his career. This is the first of his WW2 oral histories, written fresh on the heels of 20 years of Eisenhower research and the 40th Anniversary of D-Day. The book covers the legendary assault on Pegasus bridge: the training of D company, a minute-by-minute account of the battle, and the aftermath.

The bridges over the Orne River and canal, which would later be named Pegasus and Horsa bridge in honor of the Paras, had a vital role. If the Germans held these bridges, their Panzers could attack directly into the flank of the landing, possibly defeating Overlord. If the bridges were destroyed, the 6th Paras would be stranded on the far side without armor or heavy weapons, and would be destroyed in force. The only option was a daring coup de main, sailing in silently on gliders to 'prang' almost on the bridge itself, to seize it by storm in seconds, and then hold it at all costs. Ambrose recovers the battle through careful oral histories, and brings all his talents as a writer to describe the terror of close range firefights, the heroism of the soldiers, the glory of tracers and tanks burning up, and the moments of hilarity--such as a German soldier who had slept through the assault being discovered in his bunker by Paras, woken, and believing that it was an elaborate prank telling them to get lost and going back to sleep.

This is an elegant and excellent little book. Best of all, while Ambrose likes, respects, and admires the Brits, he doesn't worship them like he does with American GIs. The men who defeated the Nazis were pretty amazing, but a historian can't rightfully worship his subjects.