"Tracing the genesis of D-Day to the early days after Dunkirk, Gilbert recounts how the results of numerous commando raids - some successful, others disastrous - shaped the Allies planning for a full-scale assault. He reveals Churchill's hands-on involvement in both strategic and tactical planning, and explains why the invasion was delayed for more than two years after America's entry into the war." "Gilbert offers a wealth of new and detailed information on the Allies' use of double agents and phantom armies to fool Hitler and his generals into believing that the Normandy invasion was a mere diversion in preparation for a larger assault elsewhere. He also reveals how British code-breakers provided Allied commanders with astonishingly accurate information on German troop movements, defense strategies, and command decisions." "Complete with twenty-seven maps prepared especially for this book, D-Day sheds new light on one of the greatest achievements in military history."--BOOK JACKET.