When the Sea Came Alive, Garrett M. Graff
When the Sea Came Alive, Garrett M. Graff
2 Rating(s)
List: $34.99 | Sale: $24.50
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When the Sea Came Alive
An Oral History of D-Day

Bestseller

Author: Garrett M. Graff, A Full Cast

Narrator: Edoardo Ballerini, Garrett M. Graff

Unabridged: 19 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/04/2024


Synopsis

Winner of the 2025 Audie Award for Multi-Voiced Performance

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Absolutely gripping.” —The Washington Post • “A masterpiece of oral history…stirring, surprising, grim, joyous, moving, and always riveting.” —Evan Thomas

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Plane in the Sky and Pulitzer Prize finalist for Watergate comes the most complete and up-to-date account of D-Day—the largest seaborne invasion in history and the moment that secured the Allied victory in World War II—featuring hundreds of eyewitness accounts.

June 6, 1944—known to us all as D-Day—is one of history’s greatest and most unbelievable military triumphs. The surprise sunrise landing of more than 150,000 Allied troops on the beaches of occupied northern France is one of the most consequential days of the 20th century. Now, Pulitzer Prize finalist Garrett M. Graff, historian and author of The Only Plane in the Sky and Watergate, brings them all together in a one-of-a-kind, bestselling oral history that explores this seminal event in vivid, heart-pounding detail.

The story begins in the opening months of the 1940s, as the Germany army tightens its grip across Europe, seizing control of entire nations. The United States, who has resolved to remain neutral, is forced to enter the conflict after an unexpected attack by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. For the second time in fifty years, the world is at war, with the stakes higher than they’ve ever been before. Then in 1943, Allied leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Casablanca to discuss a new plan for victory: a coordinated invasion of occupied France, led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Failure is not an option. Over the next eighteen months, the large-scale action is organized, mobilizing soldiers across Europe by land, sea, and sky. And when the day comes, it is unlike anything the world has ever seen.

These moments and more are seen in real time. A visceral, page-turning drama told through the eyes of those who experienced them—from soldiers, nurses, pilots, children, neighbors, sailors, politicians, volunteers, photographers, reporters and so many more, When the Sea Came Alive “is the sort of book that is smart, inspiring, and powerful—and adds so much to our knowledge of what that day was like and its historic importance forever” (Chris Bohjalian)—an unforgettable, fitting tribute to the men and women of the Greatest Generation.

About Garrett M. Graff

Garrett M. Graff has spent two decades covering politics, technology, and national security. Today, he’s a columnist for The Washington Post, where he writes on leadership, serves as the director of cyber initiatives at the Aspen Institute, and hosts the history podcast, Long Shadow, which received a 2024 Edward R. Murrow Award. The former editor of POLITICO Magazine and a longtime contributor to WIRED and CNN, he’s written for publications like Esquire, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and Foreign Affairs, and authored nine books—including the #1 national bestseller The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11, the FBI history The Threat MatrixRaven Rock (about the government’s Cold War Doomsday plans), and the New York Times bestsellers When the Sea Came Alive (an oral history of D-Day) and Watergate: A New History, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brendan on June 02, 2024

One thing I hear very often when history comes up is that there are too many World War II books coming out. I have always found this curious as the most important war in history which entangled most of the globe is going to produce stories for a very long time. Admittedly, there are plenty of books......more

Goodreads review by Chris on June 24, 2024

Garrett Graff is a treasure: a historian rather like Erik Larson with a vast curiosity. He's written some of the very best books out there on UFOs, Watergate, and 9/11. (THE ONLY PLANE IN THE SKY: AN ORAL HISTORY OF 9/11 is brilliant -- and not for the faint of heart.) Now he has turned his attentio......more

Goodreads review by Raymond on January 06, 2025

The author’s other book, The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11, was a much better read. I can personally relate to what happened on 9/11 as opposed to the Dday invasion of WWII. I felt this book had too much information being disclosed by too many people. The resulting stories became so......more

Goodreads review by Liz on June 10, 2024

Audiobook rec! When the Sea Came Alive is the new oral history of D-Day and its impact. from the author/historian that brought us The Only Plane in the Sky. Graff has woven together over 700 voices, each with a piece of the puzzle, to expertly craft a very human story of one of the world's biggest e......more

Goodreads review by Kelbi on August 24, 2024

This book will stay with me for a LONG time. I knew next to nothing about D Day prior to this read and now I can’t stop thinking about it. The planning of operation OVERLORD, deciding when (considering tides, weather/cloud cover, time of year, etc.) and the execution (air, land, sea) is honestly bey......more