In September 1944 Hitler ordered an attack on Gen. George Patton's Third Army, which was deep inside France making for the Rhine and threatening the German industrial heartland beyond. The ensuing battle near Arracourt--the U.S. Army's largest tank-versus-tank clash until the Bulge--went badly for the Germans, who committed their armor piecemeal and whose offensive was shattered in a series of intense, close-range tank duels with the Americans. Armor expert Steven Zaloga deftly reconstructs the battle and shows how American Sherman tanks bested superior German Panthers. Features legendary panzer general Hasso von Manteuffel and U.S. commanders John "Tiger Jack" Wood ("America's Rommel") and Creighton Abrams (namesake of the M1 Abrams tank). Thoroughly researched narrative draws on newly discovered American and German records that provide unprecedented detail.

The second in Steven Zaloga's classic two-volume photo history of American armor in Europe is now available in paperback. Covering the Battle of the Bulge, the Rhine crossings, and the final battles inside Germany, the book is beautifully illustrated with more than 1200 photos of American tanks and armored vehicles as well as many German tanks.

This classic, now available in paperback, includes all varieties of American armor in Europe from D-Day, to Normandy, to southern France, the Siegfried Line, the push to the Rhine, and finally, the Battle of the Bulge. Shermans, Hellcats, and many more American and German tanks are covered in nearly 1200 photos along with Steven Zaloga's expert captions. Perfect for modelers and World War II enthusiasts.

In his riveting new book, Steven Zaloga describes how American foot soldiers faced down Hitler's elite armored spearhead - the Hitler Youth Panzer Division - in the snowy Ardennes forest during one of World War II's biggest battles, the Battle of the Bulge. The Hitler Youth division was assigned the mission of the Fuhrer's Ardennes offensive: capture the main highway to the primary objective, Antwerp, whose seizure Hitler believed would end the war. Had the Germans taken the Belgian port, it would have cut off the Americans from the British and perhaps led to a second, more devastating Dunkirk. In Zaloga's careful reconstruction, a succession of American infantry units - the 99th Division, the 2nd Division, and the 1st Division (the famous Big Red One) - fought a series of battles that denied Hitler the best roads to Antwerp and doomed his offensive. American G.I.s - some of them seeing combat for the very first time - had stymied Hitler's panzers and grand plans.