THE INVASION OF EUROPE: The Story Behind D-Day

Until they indignantly organized, the magazine journalists at Allied headquarters in London during WWII had no representative in the correspondents' pool. Room for one more man was found and, in drawing straws for the assignment, Mr. Michie won. He opted for attachment to General Eisenhower's forward headquarters where plans for D-Day were the paramount concern. This book benefits from his on-the-spot observation of the stages through which the planning had to move before a date could be set and provides an overview of the invasion itself. There are intriguing sidelights (Eisenhower's authenticated words' in picking June 6th -- ""O.K. Let 'er rip."") as well as the essentials of supply and transport. The emphasis in this book is on the triumphs of cooperation achieved at Supreme Headquarters rather than on the bickering among the generals which recent memoirs have underlined. It reads with the case of good magazine writing and untangles the difficult-to-describe background of the triphibious assault.