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Title details for The Steel Wave by Jeff Shaara - Available

The Steel Wave

#2 in series

by Jeff Shaara
Paul Michael
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
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 unique blend of Allied armies can successfully confront the might of Adolf Hitler’s forces, who have already conquered Western Europe. On the coast of France, German commander Erwin Rommel fortifies and prepares for the coming invasion, acutely aware that he must bring all his skills to bear on a fight his side must win. But Rommel’s greatest challenge is to strike the Allies on his front, while struggling behind the lines with the growing insanity of Adolf Hitler, who thwarts the strategies Rommel knows will succeed.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Jesse Adams, a no-nonsense veteran of the 82nd Airborne, parachutes with his men behind German lines into a chaotic and desperate struggle. And as the invasion force surges toward the beaches of Normandy, Private Tom Thorne of the 29th Infantry Division faces the horrifying prospects of fighting his way ashore on a stretch of coast more heavily defended than the Allied commanders anticipate–Omaha Beach.
From G.I. to general, this story carries the reader through the war’s most crucial juncture, the invasion that altered the flow of the war, and, ultimately, changed history.

  • Creators

  • Series

    World War II

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 13, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781415948187
      • File size: 600249 KB
      • Duration: 20:50:31

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 31, 2008
      This keystone of the bestselling WWII trilogy dramatizes D-Day and ups the bar for military historicals, demonstrating that Shaara (The Rising Tide
      ) has hit full stride. The epic-scale novel opens on January 25, 1944, with British commandos gathering soil samples on Omaha Beach to assess landing sites. Shaara gives the Americans, called “the great waves of steel” by the Germans, their due portion in the grisly, brutal Allied invasion, and the experiences of the grunt soldiers—most notably the indefatigable U.S. Army Sgt. Jesse Adams—offers a field-level view of D-Day and afterward, generating more suspenseful reading than the matter-of-fact accounts of the big-brass dealings of Eisenhower and Churchill. The Allied leaders' personalities emerge with agile clarity, while German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel embodies “the good soldier” laboring under a delusional Hitler and German High Command ensconced in cozy Berlin. Rommel's ambivalent complicity in the assassination plot on Hitler is convincingly rendered and paves the way for the final act. The muscular prose, deft sense of military drama and relentless pacing are well suited for this crackerjack saga.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Because this novel focuses narrowly on the D-Day invasion of WWII, the dramatic arc is clearly defined, and the plot is focused. Anthony Heald knows when to add emphasis to his narration and when to let the action speak for itself. He does a workmanlike job with accents--American, German, English, and a bit of Scots--without artifice. They help the listener distinguish the characters. The abridgment is generally good, but there are spots where material obviously has been cut. Even listeners who know a great deal about the Allied assault on Europe will enjoy the narrative as it reduces major events to the lives of individuals. R.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 12, 2008
      Just as his father captured the heart of the Civil War with such fine novels as The Killer Angels, Shaara has done the same with his tremendous non-fiction saga of the Allied landings on Omaha Beach in Normandy. Anthony Heald is an ideal reader; his authority relays the epic story in a way that never loses track of the humans affected by war. He brings historical figures like Eisenhower and Rommel to life, but his best work is portraying the ordinary troops who did the war's heavy lifting. The audiobook feels like a group of soldiers and sailors sitting around in a VFW lounge, swapping stories of the greatest event in their lives, with Heald giving their memories voice. The abridgement trims the book but not its power. A Ballantine hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 31).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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