Synopses & Reviews
Hitlerand#8217;s last gamble, the Battle of the Bulge, was intended to push the Allied invaders of Normandy all the way back to the beaches. The plan nearly succeeded, and almost certainly would have, were it not for one small Belgian town and its tenacious American defenders who held back a tenfold larger German force while awaiting the arrival of General George Pattonand#8217;s mighty Third Army.
In this dramatic account of the 1944and#150;45 winter of war in Bastogne, historian Peter Schrijvers offers the first full story of the German assault on the strategically located town. From the December stampede of American and Panzer divisions racing to reach Bastogne first, through the bloody eight-day siege from land and air, and through three more weeks of unrelenting fighting even after the siege was broken, events at Bastogne hastened the long-awaited end of WWII. Schrijvers draws on diaries, memoirs, and other fresh sources to illuminate the experiences not only of Bastogneand#8217;s 3,000 citizens and their American defenders, but also of German soldiers and commanders desperate for victory. The costs of war are here made real, uncovered in the stories of those who perished and those who emerged from battle to find the world forever changed.
Review
andquot;An excellent account of the battle for Bastogne, both well-researched and well-written.andquot;andmdash;Antony Beevor
Review
andlsquo;Bastogne was a month-long battle of attrition, a desperate grapple between Germans and Americans. Yet until now its tale has never been told separately. Schrijvers combines clear operational narrative with compelling vignettes from three perspectives: those who fought to hold Bastogne, those who sought to capture it, and those caught in the crossfire. Soldiers or civilians, their stories establish warandrsquo;s human dimension andndash; and its inhuman face.andrsquo; andndash; Dennis Showalter, author of Hitlerand#39;s Panzers. The Lightning Attacks that Revolutionized Warfare
Review
andquot;Using fresh sources and deft writing, Peter Schrijvers develops a panoramic and compelling boots-on-the-ground illumination of one of the Bulgeand#39;s most epic battles.andquot;andmdash;Patrick K. Oand#39;Donnell, author of Dog Company: The Boys of Pointe du Hoc - Rangers Who Accomplished D-Dayand#39;s Toughest Mission and Led the Way Across Europe
Review
and#39;It provides a more vivid and nuanced picture of the crucial fighting for control of Bastogne than any other book.and#39;andmdash;James J. Weingartner, author of Crossroads of Death: The Story of the Malmedy Massacre and Trial
Review
andlsquo;A highly informative and entertaining work by a Battle of the Bulge expert, Peter Schrijversandrsquo; Those Who Hold Bastogne contributes significantly to our knowledge of this pivotal World War II battle.andrsquo; andmdash;Joseph Balkoski, author of Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944
Review
Praise for Peter Schrijversand#39; Previous Books on World War II: andnbsp;andnbsp;
The Crash of Ruin: American Combat Soldiers in Europe during World War II:
andnbsp;andquot;A masterpieceandquot;andmdash;The Atlantic
andnbsp;andquot;Unflinchingandquot;andmdash;Paul Fussell, Winner of the National Book Award for The Great War and Modern Memoryandnbsp;
The GI War Against Japan: American Soldiers in Asia and the Pacific during World War II:
andnbsp;andquot;Terrifying . remarkable . this temperate study of murderous fury is among the most unsettling books Iand#39;ve read in yearsandquot;andmdash;Benjamin Schwarz, Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Excellence in Book Criticismandnbsp;
The Unknown Dead: Civilians in the Battle of the Bulge:
andnbsp;andquot;Deeply moving, and at times shockingandquot;andmdash;William Hitchcock, Pulitzer Prize Nominee for The Bitter Road to Freedom: A New History of the Liberation of Europeandnbsp;
Liberators: The Allies and Belgian Society, 1944-1945
andnbsp;andquot;An excellent and stimulating bookandquot; andmdash;The Times Literary Supplement
Review
andquot;Those who Hold Bastogne is the first study of the Battle of the Bulge to focus on the fight in Bastogne and the role of the civilians who were caught up in the battle.Well-researched, it chronicles the battle day by day and often hour by hour. Within the narrative, numerous individual memoirs are included, giving an andlsquo;up close and personalandrsquo; element to the story.andrdquo; andmdash;J.W. Thacker, The Bowling Green Daily News
Review
andquot;Well researched and written at a good pace, this is an excellent account of an epic and brutal struggle.andquot;andmdash;David Flintham, Military History
Review
andquot;A fast-paced story. . . . Schrijvers does an admirable job of weaving personal accounts into the larger picture of Bastogneandrsquo;s horrors.andquot;andmdash;Wall Street Journal
Review
Five-starred review - Alex Kershaw, Goodreads
Review
and#39;Peter Schrijvers writes with the confidence and authority of someone who has been immersed in the subject for many years. His effective use of vivid civilian testimony means one sees the Battle of the Bulge through the eyes of the Belgians caught up in it, as well as of the American and German troops.and#39; - Jonathan Fryer, writer and broadcaster
Review
and#39;A lively account of the fighting.and#39; - Lawrence D. Freedman,andnbsp;Foreign Affairs
Review
andquot;A pulse-pounding story ... the first thorough treatment of the famous battle for Bastogne.andquot; -- John C. McManus,andnbsp;author ofandnbsp;The Dead and Those About to Die: D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach
Review
andquot;Gripping ...andnbsp;visceral ... an engaging and engrossing narrative.andquot;andnbsp;-- Adam Seipp, H-Net
Synopsis
A new telling of the brutal siege of Bastogne, where vastly outnumbered American forces held off a savage German onslaught and sealed the fate of the Third Reich
Synopsis
A new telling of the brutal siege of Bastogne, where vastly outnumbered American forces held off a savage German onslaught and sealed the fate of the Third Reich
Hitler s last gamble, the Battle of the Bulge, was intended to push the Allied invaders of Normandy all the way back to the beaches. The plan nearly succeeded, and almost certainly would have, were it not for one small Belgian town and its tenacious American defenders who held back a tenfold larger German force while awaiting the arrival of General George Patton s mighty Third Army.
In this dramatic account of the 1944 45 winter of war in Bastogne, historian Peter Schrijvers offers the first full story of the German assault on the strategically located town. From the December stampede of American and Panzer divisions racing to reach Bastogne first, through the bloody eight-day siege from land and air, and through three more weeks of unrelenting fighting even after the siege was broken, events at Bastogne hastened the long-awaited end of WWII. Schrijvers draws on diaries, memoirs, and other fresh sources to illuminate the experiences not only of Bastogne s 3,000 citizens and their American defenders, but also of German soldiers and commanders desperate for victory. The costs of war are here made real, uncovered in the stories of those who perished and those who emerged from battle to find the world forever changed."
About the Author
Peter Schrijvers studied United States military and diplomatic history at Ohio State University in Columbus, and is currently a senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Schrijvers is the author of five previous books on World War II. A native of Belgium, thoroughly acquainted with the terrain and people of the Ardennes, he has spent several decades researching the American, German, and Belgian dimensions of the battle for Bastogne for this authoritative and harrowing work on the biggest Battle of the Bulge.