When the Sea Came Alive

A landmark new account of the single most important day of WW2, in the words of the people who lived it.

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A LANDMARK NEW ACCOUNT OF THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF WW2, IN THE WORDS OF THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED IT

**** 'Comprehensive... from a large and wide range of witnesses on both sides' -The Telegraph

'A sprawling history of D-Day from the point of view of participants on both sides.' -Kirkus

'A masterpiece of oral history. Stirring, surprising, grim, joyous, moving and always riveting.' -Evan Thomas

'A new, complete portrait in time for the 80th anniversary [...] Graff uses a wide array and diversity of voices that give a fuller picture of the lead-up to the invasion, as well as the fighting itself.' -Associated Press

On 6th June 1944, the Allied invasion began. For hours, wave after wave of soldiers, sailors, and airmen crossed the channel and stormed the Normandy coast, fighting to gain a foothold in Nazi-occupied Northwest Europe. It was the largest combined air and seaborne invasion ever, involving over 150,000 Allied troops on the ground, and its eventual success became a critical turning point in the war, spelling the beginning of the end for the Third Reich.

As the events of that day fade from living memory, it's more important than ever to understand what it felt like to be there and to live through it, on both sides. In this definitive work, Garrett M. Graff, the bestselling author of The Only Plane in the Sky: The Oral History of 9/11, compiles over 600 US, Canadian, UK, French and German voices to tell the full story of exactly how that historic day unfolded, in visceral detail - as well as the weeks and months leading up to it. From paratroopers to fighter pilots to nurses, generals, French villagers, German Defenders to Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, this is the most intimate re-telling of D-Day published to date.