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I grew up a World War II movie junkie, and one of my favorites was Ken Annakin’s The Battle of the Bulge. The movie is a sequel of sorts to the D-Day classic The Longest Day, which Annakin also helped direct. The two movies share a lot of similarities. They are both big, long, World War II epics with sprawling all-star casts. The main difference, besides The Battle of the Bulge being in color, is that The Longest Day strove for historical verity (having been based on Cornelius Ryan’s famous book...
There have been truckloads of books on the Battle of the Bulge, so when a new book comes out, sometimes you have to ask, what new can be said about a Battle, or more appropriately a series of Battles, that have been examined and reexamined dozens if not hundreds of times. Well as this book proves, nothing really. Antony Beevor's book doesn't really bring anything new to the table all of the information that is presented has been presented elsewhere. This is not to surprising. Even having said th...
It is serious, well written. I read it like a thriller. Beevor mixes the university excellence and an accessible writing. There is a people who always fascinates me. I had discovered him in Paxton's book. It is Montgomery. This mixture of orgueil and of mediocrity fascinates me. I have to find a biography of him.
Antony Beevor's work is an engaging overview of the Ardennes offensive, Adolf Hitler's "last gamble." On September 16 1944, the day before Operation Market Garden (a series if battles fought in southern Holland) was launched, Hitler bewildered his entourage at the Wolf's Lair with his decision to counter-attack from the Ardennes. The Führer was determined never to negotiate, explains Beevor. He continued to convince himself that the "unnatural" alliance between the capitalist countries of the we...
I received this book through a "First Reads" giveaway on Goodreads. I've read a number of Antony Beevor's books (Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942-1943 and The Fall of Berlin 1945 being two of my favorites) and his latest is up to his usual excellent standards. Deeply researched, meticulous in detail, and full of helpful maps, Beevor provides a day-by-day account of the Battle of the Bulge that manages to bring clarity to what was a very confusing battle of multiple attacks and counter-attacks...
A very thorough and focused look at the fighting in the Ardennes towards the end of WWII. Viewers of the Band of Brothers miniseries will remember this mainly for the defense of Bastogne, Belgium in the middle of winter. Beevor mostly discusses the decisions and movements of generals and field marshals, with the occasional quote from the lower ranks or non-combatants like Ernest Hemingway. The affects on the landscape and people are relayed with great sympathy. In the end, the reader comes away
Antony Beevor brings his historical expertise and writing abilities to the Ardennes Offensive of the winter, 1944-45, or the Battle of the Bulge, as it's known in America. This was the American Army's largest battle ever, and the corpus of written material on it is similarly immense. Do we really need another book about this battle? Well, Beevor does bring some new material to the table, such as the fate of civilians trapped in the battle, or who managed to flee, and to the towns, villages and f...
An excellent account of the Ardennes Offensive. I've read many a book about this campaign (the United States Army gives it campaign status; Alsace-Ardennes) so I'm always looking for a different approach. Mr. Beevor has a style that looks at the military situation in depth, but not to the point of overwhelming the reader with platoon and battalion movements. He mixes the unit histories with personal accounts ,from both sides, and the civilians caught in the middle. I can't help comparing him wit...
Antony Beevor has once again written a gripping and well researched account of a WW2 battle that deserves to be placed high on the list of the myriad books on the topic. Ardennes 1944: Hitler's Last Gamble holds nothing back in its evocative overview of the moments of despair and elation of both Axis and Allied soldiers as they struggled in the depths, muck and mire of the wooded German landscape. The reader is transported into the damp and dark foxholes as Panzers roll overhead in an attempt to...
To be more specific 3.75/5 but that's just minor nagging mainly because I'd love some more maps to help the reader draw a better picture as he watches this documentary. OK, I have to confess that Antony Beevor is my favourite war historian but there is good reason for that. Most of his books are written in a way that we get the feeling we watch a detailed documentary, verging on historical fiction at some points and not a true history book. But be not mistaken, this is history as real as it can
Five stars for research! Readers should just try and imagine the mental torture of being colder, wetter and more apprehensive than one could possibly imagine!I think the saddest thing I took from reading the book was the fact that the senior German Generals were unable to persuade Hitler to give up the whole plan which had no chance of long term success. The allies on the western front might well have reached Berlin before the Soviet forces and saved many lives on the process.
In "Ardennes 1944", one finds Antony Beevor in top form. There is a an excellent military history of the battle that clearly explains the strategies employed and vividly describes the action on the fields of battles. The debates and political conflicts within the high commands of the two armies are analysed. The sufferings of the civilians are treated in depth. Finally to please lovers of literature and the arts , Beevor describes with great gusto the adventures of Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellh...
A solid account of "The Battle Of The Bulge", Germany's last ditch attempt to halt the advance of the Western Allies in December 1944/January 1945. As well as his usual meticulous research, author Anthony Beevor adds some macabre thoughts and comments from soldiers on both sides along with details which are extremely upsetting, such as the murder of US troops and civilians by the Waffen-SS and reprisals by US troops who killed German troops after they surrendered. Beevor points to the disturbing...
Antony Beevor crafts another episode set during WW2. The first book I delved into of his was Stalingrad, and I found that book a really great insight into that conflict, with a more 'human touch' than most historical war books usually contain, plus containing a great bibliography and the Order of Battle of each side at the end. I found he dealt with both the Russian and German side of the story quite equally - and that would be no mean feat considering the recriminations afterwards. So, the only...
Good general history of the BulgeAntony Beevor, once again has written a good general account of an important battle of the Second World War. It was a very good account of the campaign which actually begins by setting the stage with the a rundown of the allies Autumn battles. Then the book continues with the planning of the Bulge, the battle and the allied counter offensive. It is the followed by a chapter on the aftermath of the battle. I found it a very good read on the Battle of the Bulge. Ju...
I'm normally a big fan of Beevor's books for their superb writing - I was particularly fond of Stalingrad, Fall of Berlin, and D-Day - so when I saw Ardennes in the airport book store in Heathrow, I grabbed it immediately.The challenge in writing a popular history of an event in World War II is how to do it in an original way as the stories have been told and retold now for seventy (70) years. For "Ardennes", I felt as if there wasn't a whole lot new here that hadn't already been done in Atkinso...
Another brilliant work by Antony Beevor. Not much more to add than What I’ve already mentioned previously about his works in how good he is in his narration of key military facts, painting a vivid overall picture of the offenses as well as the minor events that takes place in these battle fields. He weaves such a good account on military events, Using well-researched facts. He is fair in his praises as well as in his critique on both sides involved in the offensive. And as usual he is capable of...
Beevor's books are always great, this latest one is no different. Striking in its detail of the senseless atrocities against prisoners that characterised this phase of the war in the West, the constant bickering and backbiting between the Allied generals (Bradley's paralysis, Montgomery's insufferable hubris, Patton's peculiar madness, De Gaulle's arrogance) and against this the complete insanity of Hitler's "strategy" which sacrificed the remaining strength of his armies in a mad gamble despite...
This is one of the best books that I have read on "The Battle of the Bulge." It does a nice job of laying out the preliminaries, as Adolf Hitler contemplated a grand offensive to turn the Third Reich's fortunes around. It did not work--and the book notes why it did not. Lack of fuel for the tanks, lack of focus on the ultimate goal, wasting too much energy on taking Bastogne, and so on. . . .The volume outlines the bravery of American troops who were overwhelmed at the outset of the unexpected o...
The fact that this close-up of Ardennes comes only three years after Beevor's sweeping The Second World War is proof that this military historian can work from both the broad 30,000-foot view or the close-in intimate portrait, and weave details from many threads in either domain. Certain battles will always have too many books and too many analyses behind them - Carthage, Agincourt, Gettysburg, Normandy. The Battle of the Bulge is on the outside edge of this cluster, primarily because it was an