D-DAY THE ORAL HISTORY

BY GARRETT M GRAFF

HBK, MONORAY, £25

On the 80th Anniversary of the Normandy landings renowned historian, Garrett M Graff brings his expertise to this epic moment in history.

Encompassing reports from paratroopers, fighter pilots, nurses, generals, French villagers and German defenders as well as the official accounts from the leaders of the time.

The largest combined air and seaborne invasion ever, involved more than 150,000 Allied troops on the ground, became a critical turning point in the war.

As the events of June 6th, 1944, fade from living memory, it is more important than ever to understand what it felt like to be there and to live through it, on both sides.

D-DAY THE UNHEARD TAPES

BY GERAINT JONES

HBK, MCMILLAN, £22

Based on over 150 audio interviews with those who fought, this is a moving and powerful oral history of the D-Day landings and battle for Normandy.

Published alongside a ground-breaking BBC2 documentary series D-Day: The Unheard Tapes.

Here is the commando racing to the besieged airborne forces at Pegasus Bridge. The Typhoon pilot about to be executed by the SS when he is saved by a Luftwaffe officer.

The teenage GI surrounded and under fire for six days. The German soldier haunted by the memory of abandoning his dying friend.

Their words reach across the decades as they share their experiences with us.