Cornelius Ryan

Cornelius Ryan

     The man who's image you see above is Cornelius Ryan, as the caption says. He is probably in my top three or four favorite writers, and he achieves this place for three of his books, The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far, and The Last Battle. These are historical books recounting the events of D-Day, Operation Market-Garden, and the final collapse of Nazi Germany respectively. The intriguing thing about all of his books is that he was actually there, on scene, for all of the events depicted. This enabled him to give not only a factual account, but also a more personal tone to all of his stories. I doubt anyone has been moved by a textbook description of Operation Market Garden, but to read eyewitness reports of the bravery and heroism exhibited by the Allied soldiers and be almost moved to tears, to know that you are reading about men who are far greater than you will ever be, and yet go unmentioned in most accounts of these events, is an amazing feeling.

     Most of you know that I am an avid WWII enthusiast who delightfully devoured 600 page books on the subject at the age of 10. I have studied, and re-studied most of the events, and can tell you the course of the war, from 1939 to 1945 by heart. Yet it took me years to discover these books. When they landed on my desk last summer, I was immediately interested. When I spent hours and hours and hours every day reading them, I was fascinated. By the time I finished the last one, I was obsessed. These are probably the best books I have read in a very, very long time. If you want touching, intense, and down-to-the-minute accurate battle accounts on an epic scale, I would highly recommend these.