The Longest Day is, before the
movie, a
book by irish writer
Cornelius Ryan about the invasion of
Normandy in
June 6, 1994,
D-Day.
The book is a compelling collection of stories from survivors, civilians and official records, as well as personal experience from Ryan, who was a
war correspondent on D-Day and actually saw the
invasion first hand. He covered the II World War for
Reuters and
the London Daily Telegraph, from
1941 until the fall of
Berlin in
1945.
It's a particularly touching book because of the horrible reality of the stories and the first person approach. We get to read about a parachuter stuck in the mud, drowning. Then we hear about a soldier getting sick on the boat and getting shot by the weak - but still deadly - German defenses.
The book is also very balanced, it tells equally the stories of the allied side and the German side, either on the high ranks or with the point of view of common soldiers. The story of the french civilians is sometimes incredible, it made me wish the book was illustrated with pictures of the least violent scenes described.
The book was first published in 1959 and it has been reprinted several times. Cornelius Ryan took a few years to collect all the data and interview people in the USA and Europe. In 1995, the
Ohio University made an exhibition of his work, including notes and pictures.