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The D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe, launched on June 6, 1944, is widely referred to as the longest day of World War Two. Historian Victor Brooks argues that 1944 was, in effect, "the longest year" for Americans of that era, both in terms of United States casualties and in deciding the outcome of war itself. Brooks also argues that only the particular war events of 1944 could have produced the "reshuffling" of the cards of life that, in essence, changed the rules for most of the 140 million Americans in some fashion. Rather than focusing on military battles and strategy alone, the author chronicles the year as a microcosm of disparate military, political, and civilian events that came together to define a specific moment in time.