The Ardennes, 1944-1945: Hitler's Winter Offensive

A comprehensive, photo-filled account of the six-week Battle of the Bulge in December 1944–January 1945, when German panzers attacked through the Ardennes forest and caught the Allies off guard. Just as World War II appeared to be ending, Hitler launched a powerful German counteroffensive that broke through the center of the American front in the Ardennes—a hilly, forested region in eastern Belgium and Luxembourg that the Allies had considered quiet. For the second time in the war, the Germans used this terrain as a concealed approach for their panzers. Much of the US First Army was overrun and thousands taken prisoner as the Germans created a fifty-mile bulge in the Allied line. American paratroopers and tank remnants in the town of Bastogne mounted strong resistance. Eisenhower's broad front strategy stalled as Patton from the south and Hodges from the north moved to contain the incursion. The resulting winter battle lasted six weeks and became the bloodiest in US Army history before German forces were pushed back. Based on veteran interviews, extensive archives, and on-site research, the book includes previously unpublished material and new findings, including reevaluations of casualties and perspectives from both sides. Nearly four hundred photographs, numerous maps, and thirty-two color profiles of combat vehicles and aircraft accompany the text.