German general Hermann Balck (1897--1982) was considered to be one of World War II's greatest battlefield commanders. His brilliantly fought battles were masterpieces of tactical agility, mobile counterattack, and the technique of Auftragstaktik, or "mission command." However, because he declined to participate in the U.S. Army's military history debriefing program, today he is known only to serious students of the war. Drawing heavily on his meticulously kept wartime journals, Balck discusses his childhood and his career through the First and Second World Wars. His memoir details the command decision-making process as well as operations on the ground during crucial battles, including the Battle of the Marne in World War I and his incredible victories against a larger and better-equipped Soviet army at the Chir River in World War II. Balck also offers observations on Germany's greatest generals, such as Erich Ludendorff and Heinz Guderian, and shares his thoughts on international relations, domestic politics, and Germany's place in history. Available in English for the first time in an expertly edited and annotated edition, this important book provides essential information about the German military during a critical era in modern history.

German general Hermann Balck (1897--1982) was considered to be one of World War II's greatest battlefield commanders. His brilliantly fought battles were masterpieces of tactical agility, mobile counterattack, and the technique of Auftragstaktik, or "mission command." However, because he declined to participate in the U.S. Army's military history debriefing program, today he is known only to serious students of the war. Drawing heavily on his meticulously kept wartime journals, Balck discusses his childhood and his career through the First and Second World Wars. His memoir details the command decision-making process as well as operations on the ground during crucial battles, including the Battle of the Marne in World War I and his incredible victories against a larger and better-equipped Soviet army at the Chir River in World War II. Balck also offers observations on Germany's greatest generals, such as Erich Ludendorff and Heinz Guderian, and shares his thoughts on international relations, domestic politics, and Germany's place in history. Available in English for the first time in an expertly edited and annotated edition, this important book provides essential information about the German military during a critical era in modern history.

Field Marshal Montgomery's battleplan for Normandy, following the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, resulted in one of the most controversial campaigns of the Second World War. Carlo D'Este's acclaimed book gives the fullest possible account of the conception and execution of Montgomery's plan, with all its problems and complexities. It brings to light information from diaries, papers and letters that were not available in Montgomery's lifetime adn draws on interviews with senior officers who were involved in the campaign and have refrained from speaking out until now.

Warlord is the definitive chronicle of Churchill's crucial role as one of the world's most renowned military leaders, from his early adventures on the North-West Frontier of colonial India and the Boer War through his extraordinary service in both world wars. Using extensive, untapped archival materials, Carlo D'Este illuminates Churchill's character as never before, exploring his strategies behind the major military campaigns of World War I and World War II--both his dazzling successes and disastrous failures--while also revealing his tumultuous relationships with his generals and other commanders, including Dwight D. Eisenhower.

As riveting as the man it portrays, Warlord is a masterful, unsparing portrait of one of history's most fascinating and influential leaders during what was arguably the most crucial event in human history.

"An excellent book . . . D'Este's masterly account comes into its own." --"The Washington Post Book World"
Born into hardscrabble poverty in rural Kansas, the son of stern pacifists, Dwight David Eisenhower graduated from high school more likely to teach history than to make it. Casting new light on this profound evolution, Eisenhower chronicles the unlikely, dramatic rise of the supreme Allied commander.
With full access to private papers and letters, Carlo D'Este has exposed for the first time the untold myths that have surrounded Eisenhower and his family for over fifty years, and identified the complex and contradictory character behind Ike's famous grin and air of calm self-assurance.
Unlike other biographies of the general, "Eisenhower "captures the true Ike, from his youth to the pinnacle of his career and afterward.

In December 1942, 21-year-old Eugenio Corti, an officer in the Italian army, found himself, along with 30,000 Italians and 6,000 Germans, surrounded by Russians on Russian soil. To save themselves, they set out on a terrifying march through the desolate environment, where temperatures constantly hovered between -30 and -40 degrees Fahrenheit. The Italian troops were ill equipped and ill prepared for the struggle that followed. ""Few Returned"" is Corti's diary of his experiences during the month it took the troops to break through the Russian line to freedom. Each day brought brutal engagements with the Russians, and there was little time to sleep or eat. Many wounded, starving, frostbitten and delirious men were left to die. Corti paints a deeply moving picture of each scene as he experienced it. Through this detailed and compassionate telling of these events, the reader becomes aware of Corti's heroic struggles to save the sick and wounded. Although he helps many, he soon realizes that he must save himself. His heart remains heavy for those left behind. ""This is one of the reasons I am writing today: so that everyone may know about your sacrifice, my brothers, my thousands of brothers, who perished in that terrifying misery. But what chance do I have of receiving a more than ephemeral hearing if my voice is parched, after such treatment, and within me there is a desert?"" While Corti was recovering in an Italian hospital after the march, he began writing this diary. He was very careful not to include anything in it that he did not know for fact. After his convalescence, he rejoined the fighting forces. By this time there was among the Italians a realistic fear of house-searches by their former German allies; thus, Corti had his manuscript wrapped in a waterproof sheet and buried. After the war he recovered and transcribed the diary, which was first published in 1947 and has remained in print since then. Translated from Italian for publication in several other languages, ""Few Returned"" has until now been unavailable in English. This heart-wrenching account of the bitter fighting on the Russian front during World War II is certain to become a classic in America, as it already has become in Italy, Germany and Japan.

"For the first time in the growing literature of World War II, the inspiring story of the stubborn, lonely, dogged battle of the Americans locked in this tragic salient is told...gripping...You cannot put it down once you start it". -- San Francisco Chronicle.

John Toland has written numerous books on World War II, including Infamy: Pearl Harbor and Its Aftermath. Carlo D'Este is the author of Patton: A Genius for War and other works.