NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling
author of Against All Odds, returns with an utterly immersive,
adrenaline-driven account of D-Day combat.
"Meet the assaulters: pathfinders plunging from the black, coxswains
plowing the whitecaps, bareknuckle Rangers scaling sheer rock . . .
Fast-paced and up close, this is history's greatest story reinvigorated
as only Alex Kershaw can."--Adam Makos, New York Times bestselling
author of Spearhead and A Higher Call
Beginning in the predawn darkness of June 6, 1944, The First Wave
follows the remarkable men who carried out D-Day's most perilous
missions. The charismatic, unforgettable cast includes the first
American paratrooper to touch down on Normandy soil; the glider pilot
who braved antiaircraft fire to crash-land mere yards from the vital
Pegasus Bridge; the brothers who led their troops onto Juno Beach under
withering fire; as well as a French commando, returning to his native
land, who fought to destroy German strongholds on Sword Beach and
beyond. Readers will experience the sheer grit of the Rangers who scaled
Pointe du Hoc and the astonishing courage of the airborne soldiers who
captured the Merville Gun Battery in the face of devastating enemy
counterattacks. The first to fight when the stakes were highest and the
odds longest, these men would determine the fate of the invasion of
Hitler's fortress Europe--and the very history of the twentieth century.
The result is an epic of close combat and extraordinary heroism. It is
the capstone Alex Kershaw's remarkable career, built on his close
friendships with D-Day survivors and his intimate understanding of the
Normandy battlefield. For the seventy-fifth anniversary, here is a fresh
take on World War II's longest day.
Praise for The First Wave
"Masterful... readers will feel the sting of the cold surf, smell the
acrid cordite that hung in the air, and duck the zing of machine-gun
bullets whizzing overhead. The First Wave is an absolute
triumph."--James M. Scott, bestselling author of Target Tokyo
"These pages ooze with the unforgettable human drama of history's most
consequential invasion."--John C. McManus, author of The Dead and
Those About to Die
