World War II Database

Full Title: The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion

Browsing through my local library's audio book collection online, "Pointe du Hoc" grabbed my attention. It was only after making good headway into The Boys of Pointe du Hoc by Douglas Brinkley when I realized that it was yet another book with a misleading title. "The Boys of Point du Hoc" referred not to the US Army Rangers who scaled the impossible cliffs during the Normandy invasion in 1944 and captured key pieces of German artillery, but rather it referred to Ronald Reagan's famous 1984 speech. While two of the three elements of the sub-title featured WW2-related topics, the content did not reflect so. The book's official marketing material described it as a "riveting account of the brave U.S. Army Rangers who stormed the coast of Normandy"; perhaps true, but such "riveting accounts" amounted to only a few pages of the book. Although I ultimately found myself learning a great deal about Ronald Reagan, including his WW2-era service with the US 18th Army Air Force Base Unit, which produced military training films, I was disappointed that this book became an unintentional diversion when I had hoped to pick up a book about the Normandy invasion.

I had reviewed this book in its audio book format. The author Douglas Brinkley read the book himself, which I enjoyed very much. As noted in previous reviews, authors knew their own words intimately, thus often resulting in good performances. Some audio book listeners might enjoy the dramatic flares in his reading as well. As for me personally, I found his pacing quicker than what I was used to, although that was not necessarily a bad thing, as it gave me the opportunity to move on to the next title at my local library's vast audio book collection. The audio book contained a recording of Reagan's speech given at Pointe du Hoc on the French coast, which was a treat.

Given this audience of WW2 military history enthusiasts, I would not recommend The Boys of Pointe du Hoc, as it contained very little by ways of WW2 history.