Books in Days That Shook the World series

On June 6, 1944, thousands of soldiers waded ashore on to the beaches of Normandy in France. Their mission? To beat back the German army and liberate the Nazi-occupied countries of western Europe. The soldiers knew the risks-- German troops were waiting to ambush them as they landed, the beaches and shallows were mined, and hidden snipers could pick them off at any time... But for most of the soldiers, the alternative-- the inevitable onward march of Nazism-- seemed far worse. The story of D-Day is a tale of Allied cooperation and extraordinary human courage. And what was the outcome of the invasion? Did it turn the tide of World War II, or end in disaster?

It is 4:15 A.M., on Wednesday, July 16, 1969. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, "Buzz" Aldrin, and Mike Collins wake up, knowing that today is a special day. There is a good chance that they are about to make history, by taking off on the first mission ever to land a human being on the moon. If they are successful, their names will never be forgotten. But there is a possibility that, if something goes wrong, the breakfast they are about to eat will be their last...

Friday, November 22, 1963, is a day that most people over the age of 50 will never forget. Where they were and what they were doing is etched into their memories, because that was the day John F. Kennedy was killed. For all generations, the assassination of this youthful and handsome American president remains a mystery. Why did it happen? Who did it? Piecing together the information and looking at the photographs and film from that terrible day cannot answer all the questions, but we can get closer to understanding the events-- and thus consider their historical impact.

On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. For over a quarter of a century, the wall divided not only the people of Berlin, but the people of Germany and Europe. It had been the point at which democracy and communism collided. It had been the most brutal symbol of communist repression. And it had been a physical barrier over which people lost their lives in a search for freedom. Yet, on November 9, the fall of the Berlin Wall came without bloodshed. What events led to this historic moment? What part did it play in the fall of the Soviet Union? And how did the fall of the Berlin Wall bring an end to the Cold War and remove the barriers to a united Europe?

On August 6, 1945, 12 U.S. airmen climbed aboard a B-29 Superfortress bomber at an airfield on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Their mission was so secret that even they were not certain of its true nature. The cargo was a special type of bomb, and their instruction was to head for the Japanese city of Hiroshima. By the end of the following day, the rest of the world would have heard about the bomb and about Hiroshima, and life would never be the same again. The world would forever be haunted by the specter of nuclear destruction.

Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, was the day an era came to an end. The 1920s had been a magical time in the history of the U.S.-- a time of jazz, flappers, and gangsters, and a time when the stock market encouraged dreams of unlimited wealth. Thousands of people bought shares and watched their value soar at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. But on Black Tuesday, it all came to a shuddering halt. Stock prices plummeted. Panic set in. Fortunes were lost in financial disaster now known as the Wall Street Crash. What caused the crash? Did nobody see it coming? How did the buying and selling of shares create and destroy a nation's dreams, and plunge the world into depression and war?

On April 26, 1986, a huge explosion tore apart the Number 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union. As workers and firefighters struggled heroically to bring the blaze at the plant under control, the Soviet government issued public statements that tragically understated the scale of the disaster. How and why did this terrible accident occur? Why did the Soviet Union want to conceal what had really happened? Who were the people involved, and what happened to them? What was the impact of the Chernobyl disaster on the environment and on global attitudes towards nuclear power? How did it contribute to the breakdown of the Soviet Union itself?

On December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft carried out a devastating surprise bombing raid on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This single act drew the U.S. into conflict with both Japan and its ally Germany. It marked a turning point in the course of World War II. What made Japan attack the U.S.-- the strongest country in the world? How did the attack influence the outcome of the war? In what way would the world be different today if the attack on Pearl Harbor had never happened? These questions are considered in this compelling account of one day that shook the world.

On August 28, 1963, civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. made a speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In it he described his dream of black and white people coexisting in racial harmony and equality. But his historic address was really about the inequality and injustices that African-Americans suffered. Although he told the listeners about his dream, he was, in fact, showing them a nightmare. What were the political and social circumstances that inspired King to make his speech? What impact did the speech have on the Civil Rights Movement, and on equal opportunities in education and employment? In the early 21st century, what aspects of King's dream have come true?