|
Showing 1 - 11 of
11 matches in All Departments
'Magisterial . . . [a] fine, balanced and superb account. It
deserves to be read for many years to come.' TELEGRAPH March 1945.
Allied troops are poised to cross the Rhine and sweep on into
Germany. Victory is at last within their grasp. But if they believe
this victory can be easily won, they face swift disillusionment.
The final I 00 days of the Second World War will prove to be
bitterly and bloodily fought, village by village, town by town.
This is the extraordinary and gripping story of those final I00
days. _________________________________________________ 'Superbly
written and full of wisdom and deep understanding, this will stand
as a defining work on these darkest months of the conflic.' JAMES
HOLLAND 'This is the most vivid and detailed narrative of the
subject that we are likely to see.' MILITARY HISTORY MAGAZINE 'An
impressive work. Lively, informative and comprehensively
researched.' CAROLINE MOOREHEAD, SPECTATOR 'An important
contribution to military history. A great read and powerful
reminder of how the Second World War in Europe was definitely not
over until the final surrender.' BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE
'What a brilliant book this is... a terrific narrative of Hitler's
Ardennes offensive of December 1944 - superb storytelling that
achieves a skilful balance between drama and detail.' - James
Holland The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive
in the West. Launched in the depths of winter to neutralize the
overwhelming Allied air superiority, three German armies attacked
through the Ardennes, the weakest part of the American lines, with
the aim of splitting the Allied armies and seizing the vital port
of Antwerp within a week. It was a tall order, as the Panzers had
to get across the Our, Ambleve, Ourthe and Meuse rivers, and the
desperate battle became a race against time and the elements, which
the Germans would eventually lose. But Hitler's dramatic
counterattack did succeed in catching the Allies off guard in what
became the largest and bloodiest battle fought by US forces during
the war. In this book, Anthony Tucker-Jones tells the story of the
battle from the German point of view, from the experiences of the
infantrymen and panzer crewmen fighting on the ground in the
Ardennes to the operational decisions of senior commanders such as
SS-Oberstgruppenfuhrer Josef 'Sepp' Dietrich and General Hasso von
Manteuffel that did so much to decide the fate of the offensive.
Drawing on new research, Hitler's Winter provides a fresh
perspective on one of the most famous battles of World War II.
In the late summer of 1944, SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Wilhelm 'Willi'
Bittrich found himself in the Netherlands surveying his II SS
Panzer Corps, which was in a poor state having narrowly escaped the
defeat in Normandy. He was completely unaware that his command lay
directly in the path of a major Allied thrust: the 17 September
1944 launch of the largest airborne and glider operation in the
history of warfare. Codenamed Operation Market Garden, it was
intended to outflank the German West Wall and 'bounce' the Rhine at
Arnhem, from where the Allies could strike into the Ruhr, Nazi
Germany's industrial heartland. Such a move could have ended the
war. However, Market Garden and the battle for Arnhem were a
disaster for the Allies. Put together in little over a week and
lacking in flexibility, the operation became an all-or-nothing race
against time. The plan to link the airborne divisions by pushing an
armoured division up a sixty-five-mile corridor was optimistic at
best, and the British drop zones were not only too far from Arnhem
Bridge, but also directly above two recuperating SS Panzer
divisions. This new book explores the operation from the
perspective of the Germans as renowned historian Anthony
Tucker-Jones examines how they were able to mobilise so swiftly and
effectively in spite of depleted troops and limited intelligence.
Between December 16, 1944 and January 15, 1945, American forces
found themselves entrenched in the heavily forested Ardennes region
of Belgium, France, and Luxembourg defending against an advancing
German army amid freezing temperatures, deep snow, and dense fog.
Operation Herbstnebel--Autumn Mist--was a massive German
counter-offensive that stunned the Allies in its scope and
intensity. In the end, the 40-day long Battle of the Bulge, as it
has come to be called, was the bloodiest battle fought by U.S.
forces in World War II, and indeed the largest land battle in
American history. Before effectively halting the German advance,
some 89,000 of the 610,000 American servicemen committed to the
campaign had become casualties, including 19,000 killed.
The engagement saw the taking of thousands of Americans as
prisoners of war, some of whom were massacred by the SS--but it
also witnessed the storied stand by U.S. forces at Bastogne as
German forces besieged the region and culminated in a decisive if
costly American victory. Ordered and directed by Hitler
himself--against the advice of his generals--the Ardennes offensive
was the last major German offensive on the Western Front. In the
wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left
severely depleted of men and equipment. Its last reserve
squandered, these irreplaceable losses would hasten the end of the
war.
In Snow and Steel, Peter Caddick-Adams draws on interviews with
over 100 participants of the campaign, as well as archival material
from both German and US sources, to offer an engagingly written and
thorough reassessment of the historic battle. Exploring the
failings of intelligence that were rife on both sides, the effects
of weather, and the influence of terrain on the battle's outcome,
Caddick-Adams deftly details the differences in weaponry and
doctrine between the US and German forces, while offering new
insights into the origins of the battle; the characters of those
involved on both the American and German sides, from the general
staff to the foot soldiers; the preparedness of troops; and the
decisions and tactics that precipitated the German retreat and the
American victory. Re-examining the SS and German infantry units in
the Bulge, he shows that far from being deadly military units, they
were nearly all under-strength, short on equipment, and poorly
trained; kept in the dark about the attack until the last minute,
they fought in total ignorance of their opponents or the terrain.
Ultimately, Caddick-Adams concludes that the German assault was
doomed to failure from the start.
Aided by an intimate knowledge of the battlefield itself and over
twenty years of personal battlefield experience, Caddick-Adams has
produced the most compelling and complete account of the Bulge yet
written.
Peter Caddick-Adams - one of the leading military historians of his
generation - reviews one of the great final engagements of WW2: The
Battle of the Bulge. Including specially commissioned maps, black
and white photography, archive material and personal interviews,
this is a riveting landmark study of a pivotal historical moment
and perfect for readers of James Holland, John Keegan, Anthony
Beevor and Max Hastings. 'A thought-provoking and compelling
account of one of the most iconic battles of the Second World War.
Brilliant' -- James Holland 'Caddick-Adams knows more about the
Bulge than any other historian I have read...I admire his
originality...Snow and Steel offers an authoritative narrative of
the drama...' -- Max Hasting, The Sunday Times 'An encyclopaedic
and eminently readable book' -- Times Literary Supplement 'A
compelling read' -- ***** Reader review 'The definitive Bulge
history' -- ***** Reader review 'Absolutely brilliant book' --
***** Reader review 'Brilliant read. Captivating and informative'
-- ***** Reader review 'Excellent, authoritative and very well
written' -- ***** Reader review
********************************************************************************************
Snow and Steel is a huge reassessment of Hitler's last great throw
of the dice: 'The Battle of the Bulge', the battle for the Ardennes
from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. This is an utterly
fascinating five weeks when for a time it looked like Hitler had
outflanked the allied armies pushing toward the Rhine and might
just throw them back to the Normandy beaches. It is also the
context for the catastrophic events at Bastogne depicted so
graphically in Band of Brothers. For military history fans this is
one of those touchstone battles of World War Two, written by an
author with a world-wide reputation. With specially commissioned
maps, photographs, primary archival material and personal
interviews, this is a truly controversial, commercial and landmark
book.
The five-month Monte Cassino campaign in central Italy is one of
the best-known European land battles of World War Two, alongside
D-Day and Stalingrad. It has a particular resonance now, because
Cassino, with its multitude of participating armies - most notably
the American 5th Army under the controversial General Mark Clark -
was perhaps the campaign of the Second World War that most closely
anticipates the coalition operations of today, with its
ever-shifting cast of players stuck in inhospitable, mountainous
terrain, pursuing an objective set by unknowing politicians in
distant capitals, where victory is difficult to define. Monte
Cassino was characterised by the destruction of its world famous
Abbey: in retrospect, considered an unjustifiable act of cultural
vandalism by the allies.The audit trail of decision-making to
destroy an icon as well known then as the Eiffel Tower or Lincoln
Memorial, is a chilling reminder that similar decisions are still
being made in Iraq and Afghanistan and indeed Libya. To this day,
reversing normal prejudice, German troops are welcome in the abbey,
having rescued its treasures from allied destruction in February
1944. Cassino was an unusual campaign for World War II in that its
outcome was not reliant on sweeping movements or the use of tanks
or aircraft - but by old-fashioned boots in the mud, whether
capturing the town of Cassino after months of grinding urban
warfare (a Stalingrad in miniature) or scrambling up the steep
mountain to seize the heights and the religious complex on top of
Monte Cassino. Monte Cassino Abbey was painstakingly rebuilt after
the war (its baroque chapel remains incomplete) and is now a World
Heritage site. An hour south of Rome, it is visited each year by up
to one million tourists and pilgrims from around the world.
The most comprehensive and authoritative history of D-Day ever
published 'Extraordinary' Andrew Roberts 'Fascinating' Daily Mail
'Magisterial' James Holland ________________ 6 June 1944, 4 a.m.
Hundreds of boats assemble off the coast of France. By nightfall,
thousands of the men they carry will be dead. This was D-Day, the
most important day of the twentieth century. In Sand and Steel, one
of Britain's leading military historians offers a panoramic new
account of the Allied invasion of France. Drawing on a decade of
new research, Peter Caddick-Adams masterfully recreates what it was
like to wade out onto the carnage of Omaha Beach, or parachute
behind enemy lines in Normandy. He explores the year-long
preparations that went into the invasion, overturning decades-old
assumptions about Allied strategy. And he pays tribute to the
remarkable individuals who made D-Day possible - not just soldiers
on the beaches, but also paratroopers, sailors, aircrews, and women
on the Home Front. The result is a compulsively readable account of
the greatest battle of the Second World War. It will be the
definitive work on D-Day for years to come. ________________ 'A
hugely impressive book which makes full use of a lifetime of
learning and experience.' Herald 'Peter Caddick-Adams' D-Day must
surely go down as the definitive narrative of that pivotal moment
in the history of the war.' James Holland 'This is a warts-and-all
forensic examination of the Allied invasion, offering stacks of
insight based on a decade of research.' Soldier
Two men came to personify British and German generalship in the
Second World War: Bernard Montgomery and Erwin Rommel. They fought
a series of extraordinary duels across several theatres of war
which established them as two of the greatest captains of their
age. Our understanding of leadership in battle was altered for ever
by their electrifying personal qualities. Ever since, historians
have assessed their outstanding leadership, personalities and
skill. The careers of both began on the periphery of the military
establishment and represent the first time military commanders
proactively and systematically used (and were used by) the media as
they came to prominence, first in North Africa, then in Normandy.
Dynamic and forward-thinking, their lives also represent a study of
pride, propaganda and nostalgia. Caddick-Adams tracks and compares
their military talents and personalities in battle. Each brought
something special to their commands. Rommel's breathtaking advance
in May-June 1940 was nothing less than inspired. Montgomery is a
gift for leadership gurus in the way he took over a demoralised
Eighth Army in August 1942 and led it to victory just two months
later. This compelling work is both scholarly and entertaining and
marks the debut of a major new talent in historical biography.
|
You may like...
La La Land
Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone
Blu-ray disc
(6)
R76
Discovery Miles 760
Harry's House
Harry Styles
CD
(1)
R238
R197
Discovery Miles 1 970
|