A vivid and authoritative account of one of the most significant battles of the Second World War.
Out of the gray haze of early morning they came - a vast invasion armada churning its way shoreward. Along nearly fifty miles of the French coast, American, British and Canadian forces converged on the beaches of Normandy. Within minutes, thousands of soldiers were streaming ashore and fighting their way through the landmines, concrete pillboxes and steel obstacles of Hitler's "Atlantic Wall".
The day was June 6, 1944. By evening, the impregnable defenses of the Third Reich had crumbled, and the liberation of Europe - dreamed of for so long - was at last underway.
This book compellingly recreates for a new generation every key moment of that historic day. Beginning with the first tentative plans to free Europe from Hitler's tyranny, author Dan van der Vat traces the story of "Operation Overlord" through to the actual invasion and beyond - covering all the perspectives of this great attack and offering a new account of that unforgettable "longest day".
