Our Finest Day: D-Day, June 6, 1944

Despite its brevity, this book is both informative and revealing. Bowden gives a good overview of what preceded and led up to D-Day. He describes Operation Overlord and the German defenses on the French coast, as well as the air and land assault plans.Especially interesting are the authentic photos and artifacts from the collection of the D-Day Museum in New Orleans, founded by the late Stephen Ambrose. These artifacts include a soldiers' diary, the front page of the New York Times, a letter from Roosevelt, and an inspirational message from Eisenhower. All are able to be pulled out and looked at by the reader.One of the artifacts, "A Pocket Guide to France" was given to the military and is included in this book as a pull out. It was simple and patriotic as it explained the military mission in France, the history of the conflict, and told the soldiers how to behave while in France. Bowden also writes of the possible pitfalls in the plan, including dropping soldiers at night and the unpredictability of the weather. He concisely relates the events of D-Day, the airborne efforts, the invasion of Utah Beach, and the action of the armada, all interspersed with the words of those who were there.Following this is a section about the Allied advance through France and into Germany...and less than a year later, the Reich was in ruins and Hitler was dead.I liked this book most of all for its simplicity and authenticity.

This short 30 page account of the D-Day invasion with first handnarrative is unique in that it contains reproductions of various items associated with the invasion. There are personal items such as notebooks and Bibles and operational items such as ordersand after-action reports. All in all this is an interesting look into the history of D-Day made more so by the inclusion of historical artifacts. I recommend it to you, inspite of its brevity and price.