"Jumping into Normandy during the early hours of D-Day, Matthew Ridgway and Maxwell Taylor fought on the ground for six weeks of combat that cost the airborne divisions more than 40 percent casualties. This is the first book to explore in depth the significant role these two division commanders played on D-Day."-- Provided by publisher.

List of maps : 9th Troop Carrier Command on D-Day ; Paratrooper drop zones ; Troop Carrier routes ; Airborne assault ; All-Americans attacking across the Merderet River on D-Day ; 82nd Airborne Divisions on the afternoon of June 6, 1944 ; 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment on the morning of D-Day ; Airborne units at the end of D-Day ; Evening glider missions on D-Day ; Battle for Carentan.

General Lee's Airborne -- Matthew Bunker Ridgway -- Maxwell Davenport Taylor -- War -- The Birth Of American Airborne Divisions -- "Become A Paratrooper!" -- James Gavin -- Sicily and Italy: A Dress Rehearsal For Normandy -- Eisenhower -- Planning for Neptune -- The American Airborne in England -- C-47s -- Gliders -- : Eisenhower's Parachuting Correspondents -- Brereton's Ninth Air Force -- The Unbearable Burden of Conscience -- A Rendevouz with Destiny -- Pathfinders -- Readying the Skytrains -- The Paratrooper Generals Make Final Preparations -- Delay -- The Paratrooper Generals Take Off -- Scattered in Streams and Cow Pastures -- The All Americans on D-Day -- The Screaming Eagles on D-Day -- Airborne Angels of Mercy -- The End of a Very Long Day -- Crossing the La Fière Causeway -- Seizing The Carentan Causeway -- Carentan -- Ridgway's Final Attacks -- Conclusion.