- Paperback: 386 pages
- Publisher: Free Press; 1st Touchstone Ed edition (25 Mar 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0684873850
- ISBN-13: 978-0684873855
- Product Dimensions: 21.5 x 14.2 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,848,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Douglas Brinkley director of the Eisenhower Center and Professor of History at the University of New Orleans The pioneering oral historian Patrick K. O'Donnell has done a wonderful job of making the experiences of America's elite troops come alive again in "Beyond Valor." These riveting oral and e-mail accounts by glidermen and rangers and paratroopers are reminiscent of such books by Stephen E. Ambrose as D-Day and "Citizen Soldiers."
Product Description
From the first parachute drops in North Africa to the final battles in Germany, U.S. Ranger and Airborne troops saw the worst action of World War II. In Beyond Valor, Patrick O'Donnell, a pioneer of Internet-based "oral history" who has collected the first-person stories of hundreds of veterans on his online oral history project, re-creates the frontline experience in stunning detail, weaving together more than 650 "e-histories" and interviews into a seamless narrative. In recollections filled with pain, poignancy, and pride, veterans chronicle the destruction of entire battalions, speak of their own personal scars, and pay tribute to their fallen colleagues. Beyond Valor brings to light the hidden horrors and uncelebrated heroics of a war fought by a now-vanishing generation and preserves them for all future generations.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The lives of these three American men, none older than twenty-three years, are frozen in time, etched into a bronze plaque that quietly marks the place where American ground soldiers first sacrificed their futures in Nazi-occupied Europe. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The lives of these three American men, none older than twenty-three years, are frozen in time, etched into a bronze plaque that quietly marks the place where American ground soldiers first sacrificed their futures in Nazi-occupied Europe. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
An easy reading for non English persons with great story's and beautiful pictures. Recommended book for everyone who's interrested in WW2 and particular the Rangers and Airborne's.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
61 reviews
45 of 47 people found the following review helpful
A Must-Read Book
21 Feb 2001
Format:Hardcover
Beyond Valor is a watershed in the reporting of World War II oral histories -- i.e., the actual participants of history describe the events they participated in in their own words, free from editorial embellishment and hindsight analysis. Mr. O'Donnell diligently interviewed hundreds of American paratrooper and Ranger veterans from the European Theater of Operations in World War II. What he has assembled in Beyond Valor is a collection of personal vignettes from young Americans that describe what hell was like during the bloodiest war ever. These men take us through training, North Africa, Sicily and Italy, Normandy and Southern France, Holland and Belgium, Germany, and going back home. Unlike other war books that use only selected quotes from veterans, embellish their words and otherwise bog you down with information and details that reveal nothing new, Mr. O'Donnell lets each veteran tell his full story. In some cases, veterans for the first time ever release emotions and bitter memories that have been bottled up inside their hearts and minds for 60 years. Many of the stories are powerful and moving, even emotionally overwhelming -- like the Rangers that describe the helpless feeling of seeing their buddies get cut down by machine gun fire right next to them as they rush up to attack a German bunker. In the vein of Stephen Ambrose, Patrick O'Donnell has put together an easy-to-read book with helpful maps that goes deep into the heart of combat as seen from America's living heroes. This book -- a tribute to the greatest generation -- is a definite keeper.
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Beyond Valor captures WWII like never before
26 Feb 2001
Format:Hardcover
Pat O'Donnell's unique way of capturing the heartfelt and poignant views of the Rangers and Airborne of WWII makes for an unbelievable book. These vets put their battle-line experiences in their own words and after keeping them perhaps bottled up inside for 50+ years they come out in such a passionate and unforgettable way. Mr. O'Donnell strings their stories together in a manner that only punctuates events which if not told by the soldiers who actually experienced them, the reader would not believe actually occurred. The stories of how the young men faced death and overcame it will forever change my outlook on the war. This book provides an amazing historical context to the war and reveals events that likely would not have been told if left up to interpretation by those not actually at the Battle of the Bulge, Salerno, Southern France or at the liberation of the camps. What is so unique about this book is that it is not a second hand account as told to an author but the actual words of the soldiers. Mr. O'Donnell's use of "e-histories" is to be commended. This book is as important to documenting the history of World War II as any I've read. The terror and triumph these men experienced played on my emotions as I read chapter after chapter of this book. Mr. O'Donnell serves as the curator of amazing works of history in his web site TheDropZone.org and I am forever grateful that he decided to share some of his masterpieces with the world.
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Excellent book.
27 Feb 2001
Format:Hardcover
Excellent book, I definitely recommend it. Most rewarding of all, is that exactly as the author states in his introduction, the narrative, in the veteran's own words, takes the reader to the middle of the action, whether it be tragic or heroic. How the author tracked down these veterans and coaxed them into sharing their personal histories, some for the first time in sixty years, is beyond me, and an achievement in itself; the book and what it represents in terms of historical value and human interest is invaluable. I do wish that the maps had been larger, but that might have been a function of the publisher and not the author. In fact the maps are exceptional in that they are quite detailed, and extremely accurate. The author, Mr. O'Donnell, has succeded in striking a very effective balance between his own narrative and that of the veteran's oral histories. Very well done. I'll be looking forward to future books from this author.
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