Published to mark the 50th anniversary of D-Day, and to accompany a Meridian Television series, this book tells the story of the day that spelled "the beginning of the end" for the liberation of Europe - one of the great dramas of World War II. Drawing on previously unpublished memoirs and many interviews with those who fought on D-Day and those who witnessed the military build-up, Juliet Gardiner provides a portrait of Britain at war in June 1944, from the mobilization of men and resources to the impact on town and country, and on romances and family life, from the training grounds of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Scotland, to the courage and the carnage on the Normandy beaches on that grey and windswept day half a century ago. The author's other books include "The People's War" and "`Over Here': The GIs in Wartime Britain".