‘People of Western Europe. A landing was made this morning on the coast of France . . .’

With these simple — yet memorable — words, General Eisenhower, the Supreme ­Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, ­announced to the world on June 6, 1944 that the Allies had begun Operation ‘Overlord’ to liberate Europe.

Now, 50 years later, After the Battle ­presents the full story: from its inception, planning and preparation through to its launch on D-Day and the days that followed, as told by the commanders whose responsibility it was.

Many of the hundreds of ‘then and now’ photographs have been taken exactly 50 years later — sometimes to the precise minute — from when the original events took place, creating a unique two-volume record of the greatest combined military, naval and air operation of all time.

Contents Volume 1:
PRELUDE — General George C. Marshall •
OPERATION ‘OVERLORD’ —General Dwight D. Eisenhower • SUPREME HEADQUARTERS, ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE — Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith • ­GERMAN ­DEFENCES — Oberst Bodo Zimmermann •
ULTRA — Major Ralph Bennett • COMMAND DECISIONS — Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur
W. Tedder • PLANS AND PREPARATIONS — ­General Sir Bernard Montgomery
AIR OPERATIONS FOR D-DAY — Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory •
OK, LET’S GO? — General Dwight D. ­Eisenhower • OPERATION ‘NEPTUNE’ — ­Admiral Sir Bertram H. Ramsay •
6th AIRBORNE DIVISION — Major-
General Richard Gale • SPECIAL DUTY
OPERATIONS — Brigadier Roderick McLeod • D-DAY’S FIRST FATAL CASUALTY — Father Alberic Stacpoole • 82nd AIRBORNE DIVISION — Major General Matthew B. Ridgway •
101st AIRBORNE ­DIVISION — Major General Maxwell D. Taylor