Combining meticulous detail with a forceful account of the action, Morison describes the landings themselves as well as the "dirty work in the dark" that preceded them: deceptions, diversions, commando raids, parachute drops, mine sweepings, air bombing, and naval bombardment. As he shows, the fire curtain provided by the powerful guns of the navy proved to be one of the most valuable trump cards of the Anglo-United States invasion armies. Morison covers the vital capture of Cherbourg as an invasion port and the diversionary landings in southern France that, together with Overlord, comprised the two main operations in the invasion of Europe in which the U.S. Navy played a leading part. At every stage, the fate of thousands of men depended not only on their own raw courage and resourcefulness but on quirks of timing and sheer luck. Morison offers a magnificent chronicle of these heroic days that definitively turned the tide of the war in Europe. About the Author Samuel Eliot Morison, an eminent Harvard professor, was appointed by close friend Franklin D. Roosevelt to write the history of U.S. naval operations during World War II after convincing the president that too many wartime histories were written after the fact or from a distance. Morison called his classic work a“shooting history” of World War II, because it was documented by historical observation during each specific naval operation in the Atlantic and Pacific. Hailed for its accuracy, narrative pace, and detail, this monumental work presents a complete record of the U.S. Navy’s war at sea, covering the strategic planning, battle tactics, and technological advances, as well as the heroic actions of American sailors.