My MASN broadcast partner, Mike Bordick, is a history fan and was good enough to join us for this edition of Hitting the Books with a classic.
"The Longest Day" by Cornelius Ryan is recognized as the book on the D-Day invasion that began, at great human cost, the beginning of the end of World War II.
"Without a doubt, this is the Gold Standard of books about June 6 1944, D-Day," wrote BlogKitch in 2013.
Ryan was a World War II reporter, actively involved in battlefront coverage, including the D-Day invasion. He wrote the book by gathering first-hand stories from those who were there.
"Ryan had initially proposed a D-Day book about only the first two or three hours of the invasion," wrote Michael Shapiro in the Columbia Journalism Review in June 2010. "But then he began to report, and his ads ('Personal: Were You There on 6 June 1944?') yielded thousands of responses. He followed up with a three-page questionnaire. ... One thousand one hundred and fifty people wrote back. And of that group, he interviewed, alone or with his assistants, 172."
Those stories became this book that touches all who read it with the emotions of the day and its place in the war.
Let Mike tell you how it touched him.
Upon launching the D-Day invasion, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower said, "You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world."
Enoch Pratt Free Library librarian Judy Cooper, the library's programs coordinator, offers this work for your reading list: "We Are Not Ourselves" by Matthew Thomas.
"In his blockbuster debut novel, Matthew Thomas tells the epic story of Eileen Tumulty, a daughter of Irish immigrants in Queens, N.Y., as she chases the American Dream - domestic bliss and economic prosperity," Cooper says. "When Eileen meets Ed Leary, a scientist, she thinks she's found the perfect partner to deliver her to the cosmopolitan world she longs for. Among the many challenges they face, the most profound is Ed's diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer's."
Judy, thanks for a read about a real issue of our own times.
Gary Thorne is the play-by-play voice of the Orioles on MASN, and the 2015 season is his ninth with the club and 30th covering Major League Baseball. His blog will appear regularly throughout the season. The Enoch Pratt Free Library's Govans Branch, 5714 Bellona Ave., will offer a tutorial on e-readers on Saturday, July 18 from 10 a.m.-noon. Bring your e-reader and learn how to borrow e-books from the library. Call 410-396-6098 to register.
* Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne. © Copyright 2015 Gary F. Thorne. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Gary F. Thorne and MASNsports.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.