"These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war. " — Ronald Reagan, June 6, 1984, Normandy, France.

Acclaimed historian and New York Times bestselling author of Tour of Duty Douglas Brinkley brings the riveting account of the brave U. S. Army Rangers who stormed the coast of Normandy on D-Day and the President, forty years later, who paid them homage.

U. S. and British warships poised in the English Channel had eighteen targets on their bombardment list for D-Day morning. The 100-foot promontory known as Pointe du Hoc - where six big German guns were ensconced - was number one. Under the bulldoggish command of Colonel James E. Rudder of Texas, these elite forces - "Rudder's Rangers" - took control of the fortified cliff The liberation of Europe was under way.

Based upon recently released documents, The Boys of Pointe du Hoc is the first in-depth, anecdotal remembrance of these fearless Army Rangers. With brilliant deftness, Brinkley moves between two events four decades apart to tell the dual story of the making of Reagan's two uplifting 1984 speeches, considered by many to be among the best orations the Great Communicator ever gave.