Hitler's first conquests - Austria, the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia, the demilitarized Rhineland - were bloodless. His first bloody strike east crushed Poland. To the west? On May 10, 1940, the Wehrmacht strikes The Netherlands which Hitler expects will capitulate within a day or two. He is mistaken. Grebbe Line defenders exhibit legendary Dutch stubbornness, Hitler's airborne troops drop onto Rotterdam and The Hague - and meet fierce opposition, and outnumbered and outgunned Dutch troops change - unknowingly at the time - the course of WWII and world history. A stout-hearted queen and a Carmelite priest stand up to Nazism, and resistance fighters' cunning and courage prove lethal for some of history's lesser-known bad guys. Two girls emigrate from Romanian farms to Paris and then Amsterdam and make life-altering choices. A young American employee of a global steamship company finds himself swept into this maelstrom. This history-rich saga provides perspectives little known to Americans.