Ardennes 1944: Hitler’s Last Gamble by Antony Beevor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
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 bury soldiers alive while men huddle and try, largely unsuccessfully, to avoid trench foot and the chill of the forest. One cannot help but notice that Beevor’s comparisons to the misery of the Eastern Front are incredibly astute.
As with most of Beevor’s excellent accounts, detailed maps along with his descriptive prowess provide the reader an eagle eye view of the positions of men circled in Bastogne and heartbreaking losses as competing armies struggle back and forth over small bits of land, again evocative of Stalingrad.
The genius in Beevor’s writing is not only battle descriptions and troop movements but his use of well-timed stories and anecdotes both humorous and utterly grotesque that help capture the insanity and contradictions of war. I highly recommend this brilliant book.
This is a review of the UK edition of the book released May 21st, 2015. The US edition was released on November 5th, 2015 under the title Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge