Simon Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Looking for a well-written, single volume, relatively comprehensive work written from an American POV re: Germany's last big offensive in WWII. Anybody got any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tux of Borg Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Dec. 23, 1944 - "Battle of the Bulge" - An entire U.S. armored division was retreating from the Germans in the Ardennes forest when a sergeant in a tank destroyer spotted an American digging a foxhole. The GI, PFC Martin, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, looked up and asked, "Are you looking for a safe place?" "Yeah" answered the tanker. "Well, buddy," he drawled, "just pull your vehicle behind me... I'm the 82nd Airborne, and this is as far as the bastards are going." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary M Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Dec. 23, 1944 - "Battle of the Bulge" - An entire U.S. armored division was retreating from the Germans in the Ardennes forest when a sergeant in a tank destroyer spotted an American digging a foxhole. The GI, PFC Martin, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, looked up and asked, "Are you looking for a safe place?" "Yeah" answered the tanker. "Well, buddy," he drawled, "just pull your vehicle behind me... I'm the 82nd Airborne, and this is as far as the bastards are going." 563120[/snapback] NUTS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB27 Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Well, not comprehensive as far as just talking about the Battle of the Bulge, but Citizen Soilders, and Band of Brothers (the book) by Stephen E Ambrose are good books about WWII and have chapter that talk about the Battle of the Bulge. Any book about the history of the 101st Airborne would be good as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNRed Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Looking for a well-written, single volume, relatively comprehensive work written from an American POV re: Germany's last big offensive in WWII.Anybody got any suggestions? 563113[/snapback] Seven Roads to Hell is a first person account written by a paratrooper who fought at Bastogne. It's a good companion piece to the Stephen Ambrose books because it provides the entire battle from the perspective of one man fighting in it. EDIT: Here's a link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Looking for a well-written, single volume, relatively comprehensive work written from an American POV re: Germany's last big offensive in WWII.Anybody got any suggestions? 563113[/snapback] Yeah, I've got about a half-dozen suggestions. You looking for hard-core military history type stuff, or more first-person "greatest generation" social history accounts? John Toland's "Bulge" is probably a good place to start, though I hate Toland in general (and "Bulge" in particular - reads too much like a touchy-feely children's book). Danny Parker's "The Battle of the Bulge" is very good, as I recall, but it's been a while since I picked it up. All the other books I have are serious (and seriously dry) military studies I don't think you're asking for... P.S. Ambrose is sh--. Ambrose is far more interested in erecting monuments than he is in writing history. If you want to feel good about our fathers and grandfathers, read Ambrose. If you want to learn something, read someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted January 12, 2006 Author Share Posted January 12, 2006 Yeah, I've got about a half-dozen suggestions. You looking for hard-core military history type stuff, or more first-person "greatest generation" social history accounts? John Toland's "Bulge" is probably a good place to start, though I hate Toland in general (and "Bulge" in particular - reads too much like a touchy-feely children's book). Danny Parker's "The Battle of the Bulge" is very good, as I recall, but it's been a while since I picked it up. All the other books I have are serious (and seriously dry) military studies I don't think you're asking for... P.S. Ambrose is sh--. Ambrose is far more interested in erecting monuments than he is in writing history. If you want to feel good about our fathers and grandfathers, read Ambrose. If you want to learn something, read someone else. 563225[/snapback] OK, that's really strange. About 20 minutes before you posted this, I went on to Amazon and ordered copies of both Parker's and Toland's books. I then changed my mind, canceled the Toland order and went with J Eisenhower's Bitter Woods because I decided Toland's volume was too small and looked to "touchy feely" I am looking for more of a macroscopic view as opposed to Ambrose's types of works. So if you have anything in mind that's slightly more interesting than a tech manual, I'd be interested in the suggestions you hinted at. Thanx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 OK, that's really strange.About 20 minutes before you posted this, I went on to Amazon and ordered copies of both Parker's and Toland's books. I then changed my mind, canceled the Toland order and went with J Eisenhower's Bitter Woods because I decided Toland's volume was too small and looked to "touchy feely" I am looking for more of a macroscopic view as opposed to Ambrose's types of works. So if you have anything in mind that's slightly more interesting than a tech manual, I'd be interested in the suggestions you hinted at. Thanx 563371[/snapback] FWIW, here's a link: http://ehistory.osu.edu/wwii/books/bulge2/index.cfm By Hugh M. Cole U.S. Army Center of Military History. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 OK, that's really strange.About 20 minutes before you posted this, I went on to Amazon and ordered copies of both Parker's and Toland's books. I then changed my mind, canceled the Toland order and went with J Eisenhower's Bitter Woods because I decided Toland's volume was too small and looked to "touchy feely" I am looking for more of a macroscopic view as opposed to Ambrose's types of works. So if you have anything in mind that's slightly more interesting than a tech manual, I'd be interested in the suggestions you hinted at. Thanx 563371[/snapback] Try Trevor Dupuy's "Hitler's Last Gamble"; despite the title, it's written largely from American archival information (basically, Dupuy's intent was to take the reams of documentation available - the Bulge is the best-documented battle in history, including the Gulf War - and write a comprehensive single-volume history). It's not seriously hard-core staff study or PhD dissertation reading, but it's not exactly easy, either. It's very informative, though, and well-referenced and not too long either (maybe 400 pages). Parker also has another book, "To Win The Winter Sky", that deals specifically and exclusively with the air campaign of the Bulge. Probably not what you're looking for (almost certainly, I'd wager. Far too specialized.) But it's a fascinating read nonetheless, from a "this is how things happen in the real world" perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Posted January 15, 2006 Share Posted January 15, 2006 Try Trevor Dupuy's "Hitler's Last Gamble"; despite the title, it's written largely from American archival information (basically, Dupuy's intent was to take the reams of documentation available - the Bulge is the best-documented battle in history, including the Gulf War - and write a comprehensive single-volume history). It's not seriously hard-core staff study or PhD dissertation reading, but it's not exactly easy, either. It's very informative, though, and well-referenced and not too long either (maybe 400 pages). Parker also has another book, "To Win The Winter Sky", that deals specifically and exclusively with the air campaign of the Bulge. Probably not what you're looking for (almost certainly, I'd wager. Far too specialized.) But it's a fascinating read nonetheless, from a "this is how things happen in the real world" perspective. 564638[/snapback] i like atkins book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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