Book excerpt: No less than Dwight Eisenhower described Andrew Jackson Higgins as "the man who won the war for us," referring to the landing craft he perfected. Those craft, the WWII LCP(L), LCP(R), LCV, LCVP, LCM, and LCS(L), are presented in this volume (the first of two on US landing craft), along with the larger LCI (Landing Craft, Infantry). These vessels, built in the tens of thousands, formed the armada that put Allied troops ashore in North Africa, the Aleutians, and Normandy and across the Pacific. Though many of these designs were initially planned as essentially disposable vessels, ultimately many of these continued to serve the nation's need through Vietnam. Some were even heavily laden with rocket launchers and used for close-in support for troops going ashore. Part of the Legends of Warfare series.