Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge Hardcover – Illustrated, November 3, 2015

There is much to like in this work and some shortcomings. First, the author has done a phenomenal amount of research to make this event come alive, in particular painting a vivid picture of the horrors of war. He also doesn't pull any punches in taking to task the mistakes and bad decisions made by commanders on both sides. On the other hand, he doesn't always know when to use a comma, and the text is burdened by a bewildering array of military units, village names, pieces of equipment and commanders to the point where I sometimes had no idea what was going on. Although I imagine he was trying to be precise, it might have helped to simplify some of that. But I learned a lot about the battle and how it transpired, as opposed to the glossed over versions of the story one usually encounters.

As the Allies on the Western Front won victory after victory against Germany in 1944, they became complacent; after all, triumph was at hand and the Reich was disintegrating in the battlefield and on the home front. The Allies were also rapidly approaching Berlin. This was an opportune time for the Wehrmacht to launch a major surprise offensive; a last ditch strike on Allied positions in Ardennes, Belgium and change the tide of the war. This surprise break-out became known as The Battle of the Bulge. It involved nearly a million troops, about half of which were Americans.Ardennes was chosen by the Germans because the attack would split the Western Allies, force the Canadians out of the war, produce another Dunkirk for the British, and reduce the threat to the Ruhr. The area was also thinly held by US troops. In addition, the dense surrounding forest would provide excellent cover for tanks and troops.The Allies were caught napping because of a failure of intelligence and analyst made some problematic assumptions. No one thought that Germany would focus a large number of troops on the Western Front given the rapid progress of the Russians on the Eastern Front. Further, aerial recon was given low priority, the area was frequently covered by fog, and the Allies did not congeal fragments of information which, collectively, showed something was brewing.All the major battles are covered, the blunders made, the animosity between Allied commanders and those within the German ranks, the strategies and tactics used by both sides, the fortunes of luck, and the reasons for the Allied victory. Behind the scenes frustrations, bitterness, gossip, temper tantrums, and behind closed door talks are also given. The book is an intense chronical of events. The battles were beyond ugly for soldiers and civilians.The level of detail and research presented in this book are exquisite and the writing draws the reader into the storyline wanting to know what happens next; captivating. The author's writing style leaves your mind with vivid imagery, not just words. It is another good reads by Beevor.Rich

more of what I expected from Antony Beevor's writing. He is extremely detailed on military matters without going too deeply into a shot-by-shot coverage. The scope in this book is much more compressed than any other of his I've read, with at least 1/3rd of the chapters covering individual days between December 21stish to December 26th, before resuming the usual thematic scheme rather than strict chronological coverage.i'd gotten used to hearing personal stories from Hitler and the Wehrmacht and SS point of view with books like The Fall of Berlin 1945, and was slightly disappointed that there was a lot less of that in this book. Instead, there's a focus on a great deal of US generals and commanders, sometimes with highly similar or unremarkable names, and almost no pictures of them among the picture-sections to be able to distinguish between them. Meanwhile, Wehrmacht and SS generals Sepp Dietrich, Hasso von Manteuffel, Model, Kokott, and Peiper all get pictures.Unfortunately, (perhaps as a result of the highly compressed nature of the offensive) there is a lot of repetition and overlap in several of the chapters, including some pseudo-spoilers about the fates of certain regiments and divisions being completely wiped out, only to have them show up a hundred pages later fresh into battle. Descriptions of certain army groups and movements start to blur together and it becomes impossible to keep track of what's happening. At least the SS and Wehrmacht divisions are fewer in number or have nicknames attached to them like "Führer Begleit", "Hitler Jugend", "Das Reich", "Hohenstaufen", while the same handful of German divisions are constantly in use, like the 3rd Panzergrenadiers, the 26th and 560th Volksgrenadiers, and the 2nd SS Panzer division.Some situations seem to not be given the appropriate coverage or tone by the author, such as the incident with Montgomery's assuming direct control over US armies in the northern shoulder and the ensuing backlash, which is treated as just another series of events by the author, yet is later described as being somehow the most catastrophic incident to the Allies, which some people believed would've caused the Western Allies to completely split apart.Another minor issue I have is with the map placement. Since so many chapters go over individual days, you are always having to go back several dozen, then several hundred pages to find the maps, separated by location and sometimes by different army movements. The worst part is some of the maps cover events unfolding over a period of 5 or more days, and are placed right at the beginning of a chapter well before you're even aware of what the map is depicting. There are two such maps devoted solely to the encirclement and destruction of a single US division which is here and gone in the first half of the chapter, and then only one map covering the Kampfgruppe Peiper advance and the locations of places like Stavelot and St Vith, which is then referred to dozens of times for the next 200 pagesMuch more than his other books, this is one where you have to pay lots of attention and most likely take notes since you're unlikely to read through it all in one session

The 'Battle of the Bulge' and the 'Battered Bastards of Bastogne' are phrases that are familiar to most people, it is a battle that has been represented both in Hollywood and on the small screen. However, upon reading this book,you will discover that this wasn't the small-scale military hiccup that the modern telling represents it as, the Ardennes offensive of 1944 could have seriously changed the course of history had things gone differently.As with most of Beevor's books he strikes a wonderful narrative balance between civilians suffering through the conflict, soldiers on the ground, generals in the command post and politicians back home and, long though the book is, it keeps a sharp pace and never gets bogged down in esoteric dogma - as is pitiably commonplace in accounts such as these.For anyone with even vague interest in military or political history there will be something to enjoy in the author's entertaining examination of the interpersonal relationships of people who moved onto unimaginable greatness long after the conflict was over and whom history has since canonised (Eisenhower, Omar Bradly, Patton, Montgomery etc).As with any book about 20th century geopolitics or military action, the information contained within can't help but shine a bright light upon modern machinations and international power dynamics - and this after all is the battle that ensured America would win the most important war in modern history on behalf of the allies in Western Europe and, near-enough, cemented Nazi Germany's defeat - as epoch's go, this was a big one.I consider it a must-read.

As with my Amazon review [qv] of the author's earlier work - 'D-Day' - I will start by saying that I greatly admire Sir Antony Beevor. His books are painstakingly researched and written in an eminently accessible style and this volume is no exception. However, as with his earlier volume: 'D-Day', 'Ardennes 1944' left me disappointed.The reason is that, in both of these books, Beevor's attitude towards the Americans is fawning in the extreme. Working through the text of 'Ardennes 1944', it came as something of a surprise to discover that the German spearhead had reached to within ten miles of the River Meuse, since, up to that point, it had appeared that the Americans had been winning! The author had concentrated almost exclusively on those US units which had stood their ground, seemingly ignoring the significant proportion who panicked and ran (or surrendered). Whilst those who fought bravely should be lauded, Sir Antony failed to explain satisfactorily why - for over 50 miles behind the Front Line - roads in the American rear areas were clogged with fleeing vehicles and personnel for over a week.The truth was that the Americans (and indeed SHAEF) were 'caught with their pants down'. However, whilst to some extent conceding this, Beevor finds excuses why General Bradley (and his subordinate General Hodges) should not be held accountable, when it was Bradley's decision to hold the line in the Ardennes with 'green' Divisions fresh from the USA and battered units sent there to rest and refit. By following such an approach, the author seems to be seeking to appeal to the American market.Beevor takes a similar distinctly pro-American line when discussing the 'political' fallout over command relationships during the battle. There is no doubt that Montgomery was an egotist and a prima donna but then, so was Patton - if not to a greater degree. However, the British Field Marshal does not deserve the obloquy heaped upon him by the author. Furthermore, much of what Monty said and did during the Battle of the Bulge was sound. In particular, since the main German thrust had severed communications from Bradley's 12th Army Group HQ to both Hodges' First Army and to Simpson's Ninth Army, it was military common sense that the two subordinate formations should come under Montgomery's command at 21st Army Group until matters had been 'tidied up'.The above aside, Beevor tells a fast-paced and readable tale. He describes the build up to Operation Wacht am Rhein/Herbstnebel in some detail, with the focus on the hard fighting that several US Divisions had gone through in the Hurtgen Forest; an experience which he uses to explain their low morale and initial poor combat effectiveness. The author then describes day-by-day the first half of the Battle of the Bulge [from 17 - 26 December], ending at the turning point of the fight, when Patton's forces broke into the Bastogne encirclement. Thereafter, the Allied counter-attack and the restoration of the original front line is handled in somewhat meatier chunks.As something of an appendix to the description of the Battle of the Bulge, Beevor goes on to describe the second significant German winter offensive on the Western Front in 1944/45: Operation Nordwind, the attack in Alsace/Lorraine. In so doing, he displays an equally sycophantic attitude towards the Free French forces and, in particular, towards General de Lattre de Tassigny, whose utter disobedience and obstructive attitude [both encouraged by De Gaulle] would have been punished by instant dismissal in either the British or the American Army.Overall, I am glad to have read this volume but believe it merits just three stars; four would have been too generous.

Unlike some military historians, Antony Beevor writes in a style that makes his books accessible to even the most casual reader. Ardennes 1944 is like a roving reporter of the conflict, flitting between villages and towns, armies from all sides, from the top brass to the humble infantryman. Rather than concentrating on the overall strategy, Beevor gives us the nuts and bolts, describing how it was for the people involved, including the poor civilians caught in the middle. There are details of the various battles and the politics behind them, but much of the time is spent in the trenches and towns while death and destruction rain down. Notwithstanding the subject matter, Beevor's approach makes Ardennes 1944 an easy read. One downside to the Kindle edition is that the maps can be difficult to read, and the many towns and villages that are mentioned can be bewildering without a map to refer to. I'll take away the same that I did after reading Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942–1943, namely that for all its fascination war is mostly about suffering, and that if Hitler had been a military genius instead of a deluded dictator we'd have been in trouble.

A monumental amount of research went into this detailed description of the Ardennes battles in late 1944. The account moves chronologically, explaining the motives, causes and outcomes of the action. Some reviewers have suggested the account over-emphasises and praises the American contribution at the expense of the British - eg. the writer is quite critical of Montgomery - but to me it is a fair and balanced account. This was after all an American battle and the casualty lists are predominantly US and German. The overriding message of the book though is the sheer futility of war; the suffering, fear, injustice and destruction caused by the insanity and stupidity of the Nazis is a message for us all, and especially for the young.

(Referring to the hardback edition, because it has big print for older eyes).This review probably will be more helpful to those not used to war books, above all. This is the book which made me very wary of committing to war books over two hundred pages.The main problem with this book is rather few maps, but most of all, not enough locations printed on those maps to follow the action.Although near the beginning and the end of the book there are interesting snippets about what it was like to fight such a battle in practice, the "passchendaele with tree bursts", with tanks squirming around the edges of foxholes to bury the occupants alive, for a great stretch of the middle section it is a rather drier list of divisions taking and retaking towns which were often not on the most recent map provided, possibly a rather lazy exercise in rehashing familiar source material.The book is also inconsistent in its treatment of the quality of American units. First we're told they are green and overweight and go to ground as soon as they hear a shot, then somewhere, somehow, it's as if they're veterans. Could it possibly be the author has become mindful of his audience...I have seen a rival book by David Jordan which has far more photos and maps, and a key difference there is the author has threaded his text more by region and division than day by day which probably makes it more readable.