D-day: The Decision to Launch: A Selection from D-day: The Battle for Normandy (Penguin Tracks)

The little-known drama of the last-minute decision to launch the invasion of Normandyexcerpted from the internationally bestselling D-Day: The Battle for NormandyIn D-Day: The Decision to Launch, excerpted from Antony Beevors bestselling book D-Day: The Battle for Normandy, readers get the little-known story of how the difficult decision was made to launch the Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944.The stakes could not have been higher: if Operation Overlord were to fail, it would be a crushing blow to the Allies, a huge loss of both men and equipment.

The decision of when to launch rested with supreme commander General Dwight D.

Eisenhower, but it hinged on one factor: the weather.

If there was too much cloud cover, the Allied bombers wouldnt be able to provide air support, and if the seas were too rough, the landing craft would be swamped.

It fell to one man to predict the weather: Dr. James Stagg, the head of the meteorological team at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force.This riveting selection from D-Day, praised by Time as a vibrant work of history that honors the sacrifice of tens of thousands of men and women, tells the fascinating inside story of one of the most important decisions of World War II.