'Vivid, graphic and moving' Mail on Sunday Book of the Year

'It has a wonderful immediacy and vitality - living history in every sense' Anthony Horowitz

'Fantastic' Dan Snow

'Compellingly authentic, revelatory and beautifully written. A gripping tour de force' Damien Lewis

'Stirring and unsettling in equal measure, this is history writing at its most powerful' Evening Standard


Almost seventy-five years have passed since D-Day, the day of the greatest seaborne invasion in history. The outcome of the Second World War hung in the balance on that chill June morning. If Allied forces succeeded in gaining a foothold in northern France, the road to victory would be open. But if the Allies could be driven back into the sea, the invasion would be stalled for years, perhaps forever.

An epic battle that involved 156,000 men, 7,000 ships and 20,000 armoured vehicles, the desperate struggle that unfolded on 6 June 1944 was, above all, a story of individual heroics - of men who were driven to keep fighting until the German defences were smashed and the precarious beachheads secured. Their authentic human story - Allied, German, French - has never fully been told.

Giles Milton's bold new history narrates the day's events through the tales of survivors from all sides: the teenage Allied conscript, the crack German defender, the French resistance fighter. From the military architects at Supreme Headquarters to the young schoolboy in the Wehrmacht's bunkers, D-Day: The Soldiers' Story lays bare the absolute terror of those trapped in the frontline of Operation Overlord. It also gives voice to those hitherto unheard - the French butcher's daughter, the Panzer Commander's wife, the chauffeur to the General Staff.

This vast canvas of human bravado reveals 'the longest day' as never before - less as a masterpiece of strategic planning than a day on which thousands of scared young men found themselves staring death in the face. It is drawn in its entirety from the raw, unvarnished experiences of those who were there.

About the Author
Giles Milton is the million-copy, internationally bestselling author of a dozen works of narrative history. His books have been translated into twenty-five languages. Two of Milton's previous works, Nathaniel's Nutmeg and Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, are currently being developed into major screen projects. Milton is the writer and narrator of the acclaimed narrative podcast series, Ministry of Secrets, produced by Sony and available on all platforms. He lives in London and Burgundy.

Reviews
Vivid, graphic and moving * Mail on Sunday Book of the Year *
Earns its place in a crowded field by bringing a completely fresh, very human approach . . . It has a wonderful immediacy and vitality-living history in every sense * Wall Street Journal *
Compellingly authentic, revelatory and beautifully written. A gripping tour de force * Damien Lewis *
Fantastic * Dan Snow *
Stirring and unsettling in equal measure, this is history writing at its most powerful. * Evening Standard *
With his deft storytelling skills, Milton has produced an action-packed and racy narrative that breathes new life into the words and deed of the extraordinary generation that found itself caught up in one of the defining days of western history ... it's terrific stuff -- James Holland * BBC History Magazine *
Giles Milton is no ordinary writer . . . This is an exemplary account enlivened and enriched by the author's discreet and under-stated sense of common humanity * Sunday Herald *
Exquisitely written . . . the best of the best * Wall Street Journal *



Book Information
ISBN 9781473649019
Author Giles Milton
Format Hardback
Page Count 512
Imprint John Murray Publishers Ltd
Publisher John Murray Press
Weight(grams) 899g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 162mm * 38mm