In anticipation of the 75th anniversary of D-Day, Florida State University’s Institute on World War II and the Human Experience welcomes New York Times best-selling author Alex Kershaw to Tallahassee for a presentation based on his recent book “The First Wave: The D-Day Warriors Who Led the Way to Victory in World War II.”

Florida State, in partnership with the Tallahassee-based independent bookstore Midtown Reader, will host Kershaw for a discussion of the soldiers who fought on the vanguard of the June 6, 1944, Allied invasion of Normandy. The acclaimed author will be interviewed by associate professor G. Kurt Piehler, director of FSU’s Institute on WWII.

Piehler said Kershaw’s lecture, which will also serve as the launch event for his national book tour, will be a fitting extension of the Institute on WWII’s core mission: to preserve and memorialize the remarkable individual sacrifices made during the Second World War.

“With his new book, Alex Kershaw cements his standing as the leading historian of the fateful day that saw the opening of the long-awaited Second Front against Nazi Germany,” Piehler said. “For local community members, this is an ideal opportunity to hear from a leading World War II historian ahead of this significant anniversary.”

This free event is open to the public and is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 14, in the Rendina Room at the FSU Alumni Center. 

RSVP with Midtown Reader at (850) 425-2665 or katie@midtownreader.com.