The Boys of Pointe du Hoc, Douglas Brinkley
The Boys of Pointe du Hoc, Douglas Brinkley
List: $18.99 | Sale: $13.29
Club: $9.49

The Boys of Pointe du Hoc

Author: Douglas Brinkley

Narrator: Douglas Brinkley

Abridged: 6 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 05/31/2005


Synopsis

""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, FranceAcclaimed 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.

About Douglas Brinkley

Douglas Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University, presidential historian for the New-York Historical Society, trustee of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. The Chicago Tribune dubbed him “America’s New Past Master.” He is the recipient of such distinguished environmental leadership prizes as the Frances K. Hutchison Medal (Garden Club of America), the Robin W. Winks Award for Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks (National Parks Conservation Association), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Lifetime Heritage Award. His book The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast received the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. He was awarded a Grammy for Presidential Suite and is the recipient of seven honorary doctorates in American studies. His two-volume, annotated Nixon Tapes won the Arthur S. Link–Warren F. Kuehl Prize. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and three children.


Reviews

super good read to learn more about the D-Day Normandy invasion!! I’m reading for my SLU trip this summer for some historical context! very easy to read and understand so I’d definitely recommend for beginners or just someone who wants an easy intro!......more

Goodreads review by Mr. Bauer on September 16, 2009

I liked the Point du hoc parts of the book. And, although I really admire the late President Reagan, I thought Brinkley devoted too much of the book to the Reagan/Point du hoc connection.......more

Goodreads review by Brian on July 30, 2023

This book is a good mini-history of WWII while presenting the backdrop to President Reagan’s speeches, specifically the Pointe du Hoc speech. The amount of research that goes into a speech is impressive. The more personal it can be, the more relatable and effective it is likely to be. A powerful spe......more

Goodreads review by Ed on October 21, 2016

Good book but some minor historical errors that somewhat spoiled it for me.......more

Goodreads review by Word Queen on July 13, 2024

I listened to the audiobook. I do not recommend it nor do I recommend this book if you’re wanting a book focused on the Rangers or D-Day. The author narrated this book. Nornally I enjoy authors reading their own work, this was not one of those times. The author definitely should’ve hired a narrator......more