The Steel Wave: A Novel of World War II

Just as his father captured the heart of the Civil War with such fine novels as The Killer Angels, Shaara has done the same with his tremendous non-fiction saga of the Allied landings on Omaha Beach in Normandy. Anthony Heald is an ideal reader; his authority relays the epic story in a way that never loses track of the humans affected by war. He brings historical figures like Eisenhower and Rommel to life, but his best work is portraying the ordinary troops who did the war's heavy lifting. The audiobook feels like a group of soldiers and sailors sitting around in a VFW lounge, swapping stories of the greatest event in their lives, with Heald giving their memories voice. The abridgement trims the book but not its power. A Ballantine hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 31).