-- The saga of a costly raid over Germany in World War II -- Written from the Allied and German points of view -- Based on official sources and interviews with survivors On March 6, 1944, the Americans launched their first large-scale daylight raid on Berlin, the capital of Hitler's Reich. The price they paid for their audacity was high: sixty-nine heavy bombers and eleven escort fighters failed to return, the highest number in any raid mounted by the 8th Air Force. This account of the mission is a compellingly readable, skillfully researched, minute-by-minute description. It is also the first book on the subject to look at events from the perspective of both sides, drawing on material from over 160 USAAF personnel, Luftwaffe pilots, civilians, and German flak gunners.