The greatest military operation in history, the invasion of France on June 6, 1944 has become immortalized as D-Day or The Longest Day. This massive land, sea, and air operation led to an 11-month campaign that concluded with the surrender of Hitler's Germany in May 1945. But nothing that came after D-Day equaled the achievement of that day in terms of planning, preparation, and logistics. It was an achievement that only four years before might have seemed like a flight of fancy. Normandy 1944 looks at the planning and preparation for the invasion, the launching of the greatest military operation of all time, and the campaign that followed in the summer of 1944 until the Allied armies closed the Falaise Gap and the Germans began their retreat from France. The book looks at the personalities involved, the innovations employed, and the experiences of those who fought in Normandy.