This book is an anthology of authentic testimonies. Supported by letters, diaries, poems, photographs, sketches, it recaptures in a uniquely vivid way the feel of this fateful battle. But, above all, it reflects the futility of war, the heavy penalty paid by losers and victors alike. This is not a book of military history. It is a human document. It is the story of all those Greeks, Allies and Germans who lived and witnessed every moment of the eleven-day battle of Crete, the one and only air-borne invasion in history. Combined with the six-month epic on Mainland Greece this epoch-making campaign greatly contributed in turning the tide of World War II in favour of the Allies.