Bob Minzesheimer

USA TODAY

Books about D-Day could fill a small library. USA TODAY's Bob Minzesheimer recommends 10 of his favorites, listed in order of publication:

The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan (1959): Almost novelistic in style; historian Douglas Brinkley says despite some inaccuracies, it remains "riveting."

Six Armies in Normandy by John Keegan (1982): Offers an international focus on troops from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany, Poland and France.

Decision in Normandy: The Unwritten Story ofMontgomeryand the Allied Campaign by Carlo D'Este (1983): Behind-the-scenes strategy, by a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel.

Overlord: D-Day And The Battle For Normandy by Max Hastings (1984): A British journalist and historian challenges the idea that the Germans alone were guilty of shooting captured enemy soldiers.

D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II by Stephen Ambrose (1994): The most comprehensive of the three books on D-Day by the best-selling historian; an illustrated edition has just been published.

D-Day: The Battle for Normandy by Anthony Beevor (2009): Includes details on the devastating impact on French civilians.

Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944 by Joseph Balkoski (2004): A minute-by-minute recounting that lets the soldiers speak for themselves.

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben MacIntyre (2012): Reveals the British effort to fool the Germans into believing the invasion would be anywhere but Normandy.

The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson (2013): The final installment of an epic World War II trilogy; an illustrated young adult version, D-Day: The Invasion of Normandy, 1944, was recently published.

The Dead and Those About to Die: D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach by John C. McManus (2014): Focuses on the often overlooked 1st Infantry Division's assault on the eastern part of Omaha Beach, "19 hours of hell."