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112th out of 360 books
—
295 voters
The Steel Wave: A Novel of World War II (World War II: 1939-1945 #2)
by
Jeff Shaara
Jeff Shaara, America’s premier author of military historical fiction, brings us the centerpiece of his epic trilogy of the Second World War.
General Dwight Eisenhower once again commands a diverse army that must find its single purpose in the destruction of Hitler’s European fortress. His primary subordinates, Omar Bradley and Bernard Montgomery, must prove that this uniqu...more
General Dwight Eisenhower once again commands a diverse army that must find its single purpose in the destruction of Hitler’s European fortress. His primary subordinates, Omar Bradley and Bernard Montgomery, must prove that this uniqu...more
Hardcover, 493 pages
Published
May 13th 2008
by Ballantine Books
(first published May 13th 2003)
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This is the second book in World War II trilogy dealing with the war in Europe and North Africa. The installment deals with the planning and invasion of Western Europe by way of France at Normandy, June 6, 1944 and ends just before the Battle of the Bulge in December.
Again, Shaara tells the story of bloody combat and political haggling that went on behind the scenes during the planning for the invasion through the eyes of historical characters, both allies and German.
The characters include grou...more
Again, Shaara tells the story of bloody combat and political haggling that went on behind the scenes during the planning for the invasion through the eyes of historical characters, both allies and German.
The characters include grou...more
The Steel Wave is so realistic that I have to wonder if it is actually fiction. I suppose that Shaara decided to go for that classification to give him more leeway in creating thoughts and conversations of his characters. However, the attitudes and language and all the details appear incredibly well researched.
The book is about D-Day. Nevertheless, it starts before D-Day itself, covering a lot of the planning. I liked very much how the very first section covered a group of men several months bef...more
The book is about D-Day. Nevertheless, it starts before D-Day itself, covering a lot of the planning. I liked very much how the very first section covered a group of men several months bef...more
1 like · like · see review
In the second book of his World War II trilogy, Shaara does not disappoint. He takes his readers through a historical journey through the planning and execution of Operation Overlord – the invasion of Occupied Europe - and the immediate aftermath.
Seen from the perspective of leaders on both sides, his impeccable research is spot-on with the historical facts and his recount of the conversations between high-ranking officers is so striking, he may as well have been eavesdropping.
Shaara deals bra...more
Seen from the perspective of leaders on both sides, his impeccable research is spot-on with the historical facts and his recount of the conversations between high-ranking officers is so striking, he may as well have been eavesdropping.
Shaara deals bra...more
I like historical fiction as a fun and easier way to learn history. From my school days, I just assumed all non-fiction was written like textbooks. So that's how I discovered Shaara and his father. But over the last decade, so many readable and riveting history books have it the shelves that I am losing any enthusiasm for historical fiction. Maybe it's that I know too much about WWII already, but this book was almost torture to finish.
I thought the Civil War series was pretty good. The WWI novel...more
I thought the Civil War series was pretty good. The WWI novel...more
This is the second book of a trilogy by Jeff Shaara (the first being "The Rising Tide) of what's being called "fictional history". The topic for this book is the events leading up and after D-Day (January thru September 1944) seeing through the eyes of the aggressor (Eisenhower), the defender (Rommel), generals (Bradley, Patton, von Rundstedt) and an ordinary soldier (Sergeant Jesse Adams, a paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne.).
The beauty of these books is the way the author weaves the contrastin...more
The beauty of these books is the way the author weaves the contrastin...more
Jeff Shaara’s father famously authored the historical novel, “Gettysburg.” Since, fils has written a prequel and a sequel to his father’s opus, as well as similar historical novels about the Revolutionary War, the Mexican American War, the First World War, and the Second World War. This is the second of a World War II trilogy, the first having focused on the American war in the Sahara. The focus here is D-Day.
Much has been written about D-Day—fictional and historical. Is there still room for yet...more
Much has been written about D-Day—fictional and historical. Is there still room for yet...more
2 likes · like · see review
"I realized that the greatest drama here is not the event but the raw and frightening uncertainty for everyone involved." So states Jeff Shaara in his introduction to the second volume in his WWII trilogy, and wow, did he ever come through! Though the events of this horrendous war have been chewed over for more than half a century, Shaara brings a sense of immediacy to his recounting that stimulates genuine anxiety in the reader. He's definitely hit his stride as historical novelist, bringing to...more
This is the second book of Jeff Shaara's World War II trilogy following The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II. It's basically the story of D-Day and the Normandy invasion. Now I've seen this story many times through movies like "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers" as well as read several non-fiction accounts. But this is the first time I think I really understood it from the larger perspective.
As usual for a Shaara novel, the novel shifts its point of view through several key individu...more
As usual for a Shaara novel, the novel shifts its point of view through several key individu...more
With D Day June 6th, I found this year's ceremonies more moving than ever, thinking of the soldiers who invaded Normandy in Operation Overlord. Each passing day, more World War II vets die, and with them, their history, their stories many die too.
Jeff Shaara's World War II trilogy is a novelized form of history. "The Steel Wave" covers the Allies invasion at Normandy. The story is told through the eyes of the Generals, Eisenhower and Patton, and the German, Rommel.
Regular army and paratroopers,...more
Jeff Shaara's World War II trilogy is a novelized form of history. "The Steel Wave" covers the Allies invasion at Normandy. The story is told through the eyes of the Generals, Eisenhower and Patton, and the German, Rommel.
Regular army and paratroopers,...more
Tim graziosi
10/28/10
This book is chill
What a great read! “The Steel Wave” by Jeff Shaara is a fantastic novel of World War II. You get every different viewpoint of the war from Dwight Eisenhower to Sergeant Jesse Adams. The events that take place in the book are extremely accurate and well detailed. I thouroughly enjoyed the book and thought it was one of the best war books of all time. The author recounts the invasion of Normandy and the battles that take place afterword. From the beaches of Om...more
10/28/10
This book is chill
What a great read! “The Steel Wave” by Jeff Shaara is a fantastic novel of World War II. You get every different viewpoint of the war from Dwight Eisenhower to Sergeant Jesse Adams. The events that take place in the book are extremely accurate and well detailed. I thouroughly enjoyed the book and thought it was one of the best war books of all time. The author recounts the invasion of Normandy and the battles that take place afterword. From the beaches of Om...more
I'd love to give this novel 5 stars, but I feel I should leave some room for better books to come. I only have two complaints. First, Shaara went into great detail of the planning and preparation of the D-Day invasion, unfortunately he didn't choose to spend much time on the actual beach landings. Secondly, no fault of Shaara's, but due to Pattons uninvolvement of the D-Day invasion, his presence was missed in this story until the very end. I suppose that makes me want to read the 3rd book that...more
The way Jeff Sharra wrote the book is perfect. This is not a non-fiction book; however, this book is a novel that is 100% based in history. The events and characters are; howerver, the dialogue is created by the author. This noval on world war two can only be enjoyed by those that like history, for this book goes through the landings and airboarn opps in France during 1944, from both the axis and allies' perspective. Anyone that enjoys war novels will love this book. So if you read Jeff Shaara's...more
I totally enjoyed The Rising Tide, the first in the WWII trilogy, so I expected to enjoy this as well.
My enjoyed was marred, however, when a student to whom I recommended The Rising Tide returned it, saying the grammatical errors annoyed him. Perhaps it was only the Kindle edition, but the mistakes were rampant in The Steel Wave, and I found them terribly annoying. It really did impact my enjoyment of the book.
Still, Shaara's ability to humanize history and remind us that the men who were fighti...more
My enjoyed was marred, however, when a student to whom I recommended The Rising Tide returned it, saying the grammatical errors annoyed him. Perhaps it was only the Kindle edition, but the mistakes were rampant in The Steel Wave, and I found them terribly annoying. It really did impact my enjoyment of the book.
Still, Shaara's ability to humanize history and remind us that the men who were fighti...more
I'm not a very smooth writer when it comes to writing reviews so I don't know how to convince people to read this book. It's the second book in a WWII trilogy. It's a historical novel and the author has done some seriously accurate research.
This part deals with D-Day and the mess that occurred after the invasion. History portrays D-Day as a smooth operation that eventually ended WWII. Not this book. D-Day was a complete mess and practically backfired. This book explains how and why the Allies o...more
This part deals with D-Day and the mess that occurred after the invasion. History portrays D-Day as a smooth operation that eventually ended WWII. Not this book. D-Day was a complete mess and practically backfired. This book explains how and why the Allies o...more
If you've read Jeff Shaara and any of his other books you know what you are in for. It is basically the same format as it follows the time frame of the Allied invasion of Europe. The book is heavily weighted before D-Day which means less of the battles and strategy that he is so famous for. The most interesting characters are larger players in this novel Eisenhower and Rommel. This is compared to his first Civil War Novel which did a better job of highlighting those characters that were huge to...more
If you are looking for a WWII novel about D-Day explaining the before, during and after and getting up close and personal into the mindsets of real characters from the Allied forces and from the German military, then look no further. You simply cannot find a more well-written or a more interesting view from both sides that really shows the courage and the apprehensions of those soldiers involved, the justifications of successes and failures from the officers and the obstacles faced from both sid...more
This is his second book in the WWII trilogy. It follows Eisenhower, Patton, Montgomery, a paratrooper, Rommel, and others. I like reading about the war from the perspective of the planners and doers. Even though I knew the outcome, I found it fascinating to follow these men and the war unfolded. The size and scope of the D-Day mission is remarkable.
It was fascinating to read about how Hitler's interference with his officers, adversely affected the war. Eisenhower's campaign succeeded because op...more
It was fascinating to read about how Hitler's interference with his officers, adversely affected the war. Eisenhower's campaign succeeded because op...more
This is book two of a trilogy on World War II in the European Theater of Operations. Chronologically, this book starts with the planning for the D-Day Invasion at Normandy and concludes with the breakout from the beaches. Told from the viewpoints of individuals (General Rommel, General Eisenhower, General Gavin, Sgt Adams, Private Thorne, and others), it is a firsthand account of the planning for the invasion (the big picture), however, it also details the Normandy landings with vivid descriptio...more
The Steel Wave: A Novel of World War II
By Jeff Shaara
Jeff Shaara writes an almost conversational fictional account of the dialogues among the American, British, and German soldier,sailors' and aviators before and during the Allied invasion of Eürope at Normandy. The history is correct, an easy way to learn the big picture.
The study of the personalities makes the book a superb read: from troopers to brass. A touching story of a big piece of the war.
By Jeff Shaara
Jeff Shaara writes an almost conversational fictional account of the dialogues among the American, British, and German soldier,sailors' and aviators before and during the Allied invasion of Eürope at Normandy. The history is correct, an easy way to learn the big picture.
The study of the personalities makes the book a superb read: from troopers to brass. A touching story of a big piece of the war.
Jun 07, 2010
Erik
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
shaara-novels,
read-in-2010
Heh, I just noticed that I finished reading this book about the Normandy Invasion on D-Day.
I had more difficulty getting into this Jeff Shaara novel than I usually do. I think it is because I already knew a lot about the build-up to the invasion. Once D-Day rolled around in the book it got much better. Shaara does a good job describing battle scenes and also does a fine job going over the tactics of the commanders.
I actually felt sorry or the Germans near the end of the book, especially Rommel a...more
I had more difficulty getting into this Jeff Shaara novel than I usually do. I think it is because I already knew a lot about the build-up to the invasion. Once D-Day rolled around in the book it got much better. Shaara does a good job describing battle scenes and also does a fine job going over the tactics of the commanders.
I actually felt sorry or the Germans near the end of the book, especially Rommel a...more
2 likes · like · see review
The 2nd novel in Jeff Shaara's WWII saga, "The Steel Wave", is set in a relatively short time span, but covers a lot of ground. Covering the events from January-October 1944, Shaara retells the story of the invasion of Normandy in a detail not normally seen. He goes into the planning & some of the background characters as well as continuing to showcase this pivotal moment in the European theater of WWII in a way as to not get us bogged down in overt details, but by doing so in a way that kee...more
I generally enjoy WWII historical fiction and I like the Shaara family's works. But this book just didn't quite work. It focuses on a few individuals and their experiences through D-Day but in the end it really doesn't shed any light. Stephen Ambrose's work provides both more sense of scale and the individual horrors faced by the troops. In the Steel Wave we get a description of the planning that went into D-Day and see how it's wearing on Eisenhower, but we never really get a sense of the vastn...more
Another excellent book from Jeff Shaara, on a topic that we both know a lot and nothing about. As he points out in the introduction, most of us can name Omaha Beach, but how many can name the other four beaches? I could get Utah and Gold, but not Juno and Sword without some help. And like most people, I get that overall mental impression that D-Day and V-E Day were stacked like dominos and fell pretty much together, even though I know better. Dragging through nearly the blow-by-blow, day-by-day...more
The second in Jeff Shaara's WWII trilogy, this tells the story of D-Day through the eyes and experiences of Dwight Eisenhower and Erwin Rommel as well as an enlisted man on the ground. This is my favorite way to learn history, through a well-researched novel. Whenever I take the time to fact-check Jeff Shaara, I learn that he has it right. His portrait of Hitler is alarming: that anyone so clearly insane could seize power and terrorize the world is chilling. The portrayal of Patton also pulls no...more
An enjoyable read for history buffs. Once it gets going it becomes a page turner and I learned plenty about Operation Overlord (the Normandy Invasion) that was new to me. That said, this one was not quite as good as some of Shaara's other books. The structure and the timeline seemed a bit arbitrary especially regarding the beginning and the end. The actual invasion of the beaches comes and goes in just a few brief pages and the ending of the book feels rather abrupt. Most of the drama in the nar...more
The telling of this story seemed a little flat. At different times the storyline raised up images from "Saving Private Ryan"' "Band of Brothers"', "Patton", "The Longest Day", Tom Selleck's portrayal of Eisenhower in "Countdown to D-Day", and others. If one wants a truly Homeric tale of WWII then I would suggest "Those Devils in Baggy Pants". The author, amember of the 82nd Airborne, was a participant in the events described in "The Stella Wave". Of course a younger person, I was born on the eve...more
This is a fascinating book. It is a history of the Normandy Invasion, when the allies landed on the coast of France during WWII. It is told from both the persepective of the Allied Command and the German army commanders. Although based on fact, it is written in a very accessible way,turning history into a living breathing thing. I was completely immersed into that incredible period of human history, where although I knew what the eventual outcome would be,I still felt suspense and the huge weigh...more
The Steel Wave is an excellent piece of story telling, set before and during the Normandy campaign. Shaara does a first-rate job at using a vast canvas of stories and characters (from front-line soldiers to generals and politicians) to put a human face on the history which is his setting. This novel is immensely entertaining and I enjoyed reading about the lives of the characters after Normandy because it helped make their stories even more interesting. Shaara has the gift of making history come...more
This is the second book in Jeff Shaara's stirring trilogy of the military conflict in the European Theater during WWII. It begins with the initial planning for Operation Overlord, the Allies' massive invasion of France through the beaches at Normandy. As with the first book, Shaara masterfully alternates between the strategy and politics of the Allied and Axis commanders and the lives of the common soldiers on the ground. In this installment, the same paratrooper who participated in the African...more
Jeff Shaara has taken up his father's mantle of writing great war-time novels. This is the second in a trilogy that I picked up without realizing that fact. It essentially follows the Normanday invasion from the perspectives of a handful of generals and ground-level soldiers. It is interesting, detailed, informative, and well-written. Shaara does a good job of conveying the terror and pain of the beaches and the exhauastion of the campaign following the landing. If you are interested in the even...more
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Jeff Shaara, a descendant of Italian immigrants, was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey ("Shaara" was originally spelled "Sciarra"). He grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, and graduated from Florida State University with a degree in Criminology. From age 16, Jeff operated a rare coin business, first out of his home, then in a retail store. After moving to Tampa, Jeff became one of the most widely know...more
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Jun 07, 2012 05:19am