Source Material
A variety of source material has been used to create the Saving Private Ryan Online Encyclopedia. One of the most challenging aspects of researching the historical background of the film is verifying information, especially when various sources conflict.
Although I have made the best effort that I can to sort out such discrepancies, I cannot guarantee that any of the information in the site is 100% accurate, but then again neither can most history authors.
Below is a listing of the primary source materials that have been used to create this Web site.
Books
- Spearheading D-Day (Gawne)
- Omaha Beach (Balkoski)
- D-Day: The First 24 Hours (Fowler)
- D-Day: June 6, 1944 (Ambrose)
- D-Day: The Invasion of Normandy (Holderfield & Varhola)
- The Road to Victory (Prince)
- Battleground Europe: Omaha Beach (Kilvert-Jones)
- Battleground Europe: Utah Beach (Shilleto)
- Currahee!: A Screaming Eagle at Normandy (Burgett)
- Rangers in World War II (Black)
- Rudder's Rangers (Lane)
- The Liberation of Pointe du Hoc (McDonald)
- Fighting the Invasion: The Germany Army at D-Day (Isby)
- U.S. Army Handbook 1939–1945 (Forty)
- U.S. Army Infantry Divisions 1943–1945 (Bellanger)
- The D-Day Landing Beaches (Bernage)
- Darby's Rangers (Bahmanyar & Welply)
- U.S. Paratrooper 1941–45 (Smith & Chappell)
- The U.S. Army 1941–45 (Katcher and Collingwood)
- The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II (Bishop)
- Beyond Valor (O'Donnell)
- Fortitude: The D-Day Deception Campaign (Hesketh)
- D-Day (Collier)
- German Army Handbook 1939–45 (Lucas)
- 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy (Bando)
- Voices of Valor (Brinkley & Drez)
- Our Finest Day: D-Day: June 6, 1944 (Bowden)
- The D-Day Companion (Penrose)
- D-Day: The Greatest Invasion: A People's History (van der Vat)
- Cross-Channel Attack (Harris)
Books and Magazines (Pending Research)
- The D-Day Experience (Holmes)
- After the Battle #103
- National Geographic, June 2002
World Wide Web
Various Web sites have been used as source material, although in some cases these sites have already disappeared and are no longer available. I normally try to use books as source material before a Web site, but there are times when I've only been able to find certain pieces of information on the Web.
World War II reenactors, who spend a great deal of time and effort on historical accuracy, often have Web sites with excellent information. Unfortunately, these sites are often among those that disappear from the Web.
Credentials
Although I am not a historian by trade, I have spent many years researching Saving Private Ryan, and have paid particular attention to the historical accuracy of the film. As I continue to research D-Day I also continue to revise and correct the site in order to assure that the information is as accurate as possible. — Robert Oliver, SPROE Webmaster
