The book begins at midnight, 5-6 June 1944, when the first British and American airborne troops penetrated France and launched the invasion. What happens in between is covered from every perspective: the high command, the enlisted ranks, the French civilians the German defenders, and Allied attackers by land, sea and air. Drawing on more than 500 interviews and oral histories, the book looks at the individuals involved and their experiences rather than units. Moving from Ike's level to that of a French child, from Bradley to an American paratrooper, from Montgomery to a British private, from Rommel to a German sergeant at the point of the attack, the book tells stories from the people who were there.