When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day by Garrett M. Graff

 

Title: When the Sea Came Alive:  An Oral History of D-Day

Author:  Garrett M. Graff

Narrated by:  Edoardo Ballerini, Garrett M. Graff, full cast

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 19 hours and 42 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you!

Do you like audiobooks?  My friend Laura Hivala got me into reading audiobooks.  I love them.  They make long drives go so much more quickly.  One of my favorite audiobooks from the past few years was The Only Plane in the Sky:  An Oral History September 11, 2001, by Garrett M. Graff.  It was a profound book.  It was a wonderful audiobook experience hearing the oral history told through a cast of characters.  I was excited that author Garrett M. Graff has written a new oral history, this time focusing on D-Day.

In When the Sea Came Alive, Graff has used a wide variety of sources to put together a full comprehensive look at D-Day told through the point of view of those that were there and those that planned the day.  The book starts in the months following up to D-Day and then gives a detailed account of the day and what followed.  D-Day was June 6, 1944, and was the day the allied forces invaded Europe and turned the tide of WWII.  How was such a large military operation able to surprise the Nazis? 

My thoughts on this novel:

·       We listened to this audiobook driving on our vacation this year.  My husband, myself, and my two sons enjoyed it.  My oldest 18-year-old son really likes learning about D-Day and The Longest Day is his favorite movie.

·       It was very effective having the firsthand accounts told by a wide cast of characters.  It gives you a depth for how horrifying it was to be on the ground and how much courage it took for the allied soldiers to push on.

·       I loved the moments of compassion when a soldier passes by and really looks at the enemy.  He noted how young they looked and wondered about the parents or wife waiting for the now dead soldier at home.

·       It was surreal when Lord Lovat marched around with a bagpiper following him on D-Day.

·       The first section was a great lead up to D-Day and the planning involved.  It was very informative.  I also thought it was interesting that African American soldiers found more acceptance in England than they did in the United States.

·       Once the invasion started, the story seemed to unfold in real time through the eyes of the soldiers.  It was intense.

·       Graff did a masterful job of putting all these threads of first-person accounts together to make one compelling narrative.

Overall, When the Sea Came Alive is a compelling narrative and excellent audiobook.  It’s a must read for any fan history or anyone that wants to learn more about one of the most important dates in history.