The Longest Day cover art

The Longest Day

June 6, 1944

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Longest Day

By: Cornelius Ryan
Narrated by: Clive Chafer
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

The classic account of the Allied invasion of Normandy....

The Longest Day is Cornelius Ryan’s unsurpassed account of D-day, a book that endures as a masterpiece of military history. In this compelling tale of courage and heroism, glory and tragedy, Ryan painstakingly re-creates the fateful hours that preceded and followed the massive invasion of Normandy to retell the story of an epic battle that would turn the tide against world fascism and free Europe from the grip of Nazi Germany.

This book, first published in 1959, is a must for anyone who loves history, as well as for anyone who wants to better understand how free nations prevailed at a time when darkness enshrouded the earth.

©1959 Cornelius Ryan; 1987 by Kathryn Morgan Ryan, Victoria Ryan Baida, and Geoffrey J. M. Ryan (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Europe France Military World United States War

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Band of Brothers cover art
A Bridge Too Far cover art
The Last Battle cover art
D-Day cover art
Easy Company Soldier cover art
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich cover art
How the War Was Won cover art
Where Eagles Dare cover art
A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hurtgen Forest and the Roer River Dams, 1944-1945 cover art
D Day: A Captivating Guide to the Battle for Normandy cover art
Citizen Soldiers cover art
The Last 100 Days cover art
The Second World War: Milestones to Disaster cover art
Gods and Generals cover art
Red Devils cover art
The Lieutenants cover art

Critic reviews

“What I write about is not war but the courage of man.” (Cornelius Ryan)
“Fifty years from now, the history of D-day, I am sure, will lean heavily on this book.” ( New York Times Book Review)
“A dramatic, moving masterpiece, a living memorial to the men who died, and as suspenseful as the most gripping mystery story.” ( Chicago Sunday Tribune)
All stars
Most relevant  
perfect . I am hard of hearing person. I understand every word. I urge all in my situation ...to give this reader an opportunity

Read This

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the two generations that have passed since the end of the Second World War historians have acquired the distance and balance from those terrible events necessary to writing good history. Given the early date of "The Longest Day" it is an enormous credit to Cornelius Ryan that he has avoided both partisanship and triumphalism in his account.



His research has obviously been meticulous, but this never causes his prose to labour and he humanises the battle on both sides without trivialising it. Most of all this is an accurate historical account that lives up to the size of the subject - perhaps the most important single day in the twentieth century.



This is not scholarly history in the academic sense, but as a single volume treatment of a momentous battle The Longest Day is as good a book as it could possibly be. And it is an impressive compliment to Ryan's prose that it translates so well to the audiobook format in a reading that does the book full justice.

Readable, scholarly, humane

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Ryan's 1958 book of a landmark event was in itself a landmark.

Published just 13-years after the end of the Second World War it moves past a war leader's recollection of maps and dispersments. It introduces real people to the story. Not just a nervous Eisenhower trying and failing to relax with Westerns as the first waves went in. But also the Paratrooper playing dead, the seaman looking on as the landing craft edges past, the French girl cycling in hope to find her parents and the German in the observation bunker. These characters will be familiar to anyone seeing the classic war film D-Day: The Longest Day. But here they are in their original.

Perhaps most affecting was the story of how the news landed. In America, bells were rung, a man of the cloth was pressed to deliver an impromptu service on a train. In Germany, the wife of a soldier in Normandy is admonished for her reaction.

The story is peerless. The delivery and direction put mud on it's cap badge. Yet again an Englishman is employed to deliver American pronunciations on a war history. Employ an American if that's the aim.

A slightly wooden delivery of the classic story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Still a great account of the events of 6th June 1944.A blend of personal experiences and the larger picture.Very well narrated.

Still a great account

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Factual and informative enjoyed the chronological order and little known facts Will enjoy to read a continuation

Great book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Although my husband listened to the sample, he did not realize just how terribly monotone this reader is and found that the historical details were incorrect.

Very boring, monotone voice. Incorrect historical

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The book is a great read but this audiobook is ruined by the monotone voice of the narrator. I was going to buy A Bridge Too Far as well but his awful voice has completely put me off

The narrator ruins it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Where does The Longest Day rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Pleased I've got it

What other book might you compare The Longest Day to, and why?

Band of Brothers

Would you be willing to try another one of Clive Chafer’s performances?

no

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Kept me listening

Any additional comments?

We live in the heart of the D Day Landings, 4 miles from Carentan & Ste Mere Eglise...I've seen the movie loads of times, I know the history, individual battles and stories...it's always been a book I've meant to read...so audible releasing it is perfect as I listen to books as I iron the linens for our 4 vacation rentals here...oh boy do I wish you had got someone to read this with less of a Mr Bean sounding voice.

You have to give it 5 stars..but

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you listen to The Longest Day again? Why?

No. Great story but terrible narration.

How could the performance have been better?

Narration is robotic and after a ten minute listen will drive you crazy with irritation.

Any additional comments?

Great author. I listened to another title called 'The Last Battle' about the fall of Berlin and it was sensational. This title is of an interest to me but sadly I've stopped listening after one hour because of the terrible narration. Don't waste your money.

Great author but......

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One of history's most decisive events. Well written and finely and sympathetically narrated. Almost too short

One of history's most decisive events

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews