Leo Barron

Got this book from my mom from the CCHS collection. Read this over the summer of 2021 and finished it while in Guam during FREEDOM BANNER. This book was interesting, but very challenging to read and follow without taking detailed notes and having a cast of characters in front of me throughout. Got lost in the amount of details and number of key players. Definitely learned a lot more about this decisive battle from both perspectives during WWII and it was very interesting to see how crucial air delivery was to the success of saving this town. Would only recommend to huge fans of WWII.… (més)

As if George Patton has nor cemented his place in history prior to the Battle of the Bulge, this book makes a nominal effort to increase his cred. The majority of the book, however, focussed on leeser commanders (some even German). and offers little new insight on the greatest general in American history. Most interesting in this book were details of operations ordered by then-colonel Creighton Abrams, one of the finest armor tacticians in the American army (who the Abrams tank would be named after).

By and large, this book is mostly a log of where various divisions and regiments were and when. This type of account was tiresome when Field Marshal Erwin Montgomery did it, it is no less compelling in this book. If you're not at all famililar with the Battle of the Bulge, this isn't the worst introduction, but better are to be found.… (més)

As the Battle of the Bulge raged, a small force of American soldiers-- including the famed 101st Airborne Division--was surrounded by Hitler's army in the Belgian town of Bastogne. Taking the town was imperative to Hitler's desperate plan. The attack would come just before dawn.

This battle was the famous one in which to the demand that the Americans surrender the response was typically American, "nuts."

"To the German Commander:

N-U-T-S

--The American Commander"

(p. 108)

Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe

I could always go for more and detailed maps but the illustrations and maps are sufficient; it is a fast-moving and insightful look from the average ordinary soldier's point of view… (més)