Description from the publisher:

Historian Stephen Ambrose reveals the startling fact that the intricate plan for the invasion of France in June 1944 had to be abandoned before the first shot was fired. This history of D-Day reveals the story of brave citizen soldiers;junior officers and enlisted men;who took the initiative to act on their own to penetrate Hitler's Atlantic Wall when they realized than nothing was as they were told it would be. A brilliant retelling of the battles of Omaha and Utah beaches, based on information only now available from interviews with surviving veterans, government archives, and other sources. "A magnificent history...";John Keegan. B&W photos. 655pp. HC