X
1] A Time for Trumpets – Charles B. MacDonald
MacDonald ranks amongst the finest of all military historians and this definitive history of the Battle of the Bulge is arguably his masterpiece. What sets this moving and exhaustively researched account apart from so many other volumes is the riveting authenticity: MacDonald was a company commander during the actual battle. No other historian of the bloodiest campaign for the US in WWII actually led men in the battle, earning the Silver Star, and then to victory in Europe in 1945.
2] Band of Brothers – Stephen Ambrose
Ambrose’s best book covers so much more than the Battle of the Bulge. But look no further than the chapters on what E Company, 506th PIR, endured at Bastogne for the most gripping account of front-line combat during the epic struggle in the Ardennes. Ambrose interviewed many survivors and their personal stories are both thrilling and deeply moving. The corresponding episodes in the HBO series are also superbly realized. This is a must read for any WWII enthusiast and an important record of heroism in an icy hell.
3] Fatal Crossroads - Danny Parker
For several decades now, Danny Parker has written about the battle which Churchill called “undoubtedly the greatest American” campaign of WWII. This forensic, disturbing examination of the infamous “Malmedy Massacre” is based on fifteen years of research and interviews with more than a hundred witnesses. Myth and bitter controversy have swirled around the events of 17 December 1944 for eighty years. This book sets the record straight and reminds us of the indiscriminate brutality of the SS.
4] The Battered Bastards of Bastogne – George E. Koskimaki
Koskimaki belonged to the Screaming Eagles during WWII, at one point serving as radioman to division commander Maxwell Taylor, and became the unit’s most diligent and indefatigable chronicler. This volume is part of a trilogy and is based on interviews with more than 500 veterans who saw combat on the ground or in the air. Koskimaki allows the men, many of them his buddies, to tell their own stories at length – this is first class oral history. Koskimaki passed away in 2016, aged 93, celebrated in one obituary as “a virtuoso blueberry picker”, leaving behind this delightful selection of anecdotes from his brothers in arms.
5] Those Who Hold Bastogne – Peter Schrijvers
This is a highly valuable account of the siege of Bastogne with heavy focus on the three thousand civilians who were trapped in the town during the siege. Schrijvers also adds testimony from the German side, showing how savage the fighting was for both the besieged 101st Airborne and Hitler’s shock troops who tried over and over and yet failed to break the will of what proved to be an indomitable American force.
6] Snow and Steel – Peter Caddick-Adams
This is a long book at over 900 pages but the ideal door-stopper for those wanting every angle covered as well as a highly readable account of the last great battle on the Western Front. Caddick-Adams busts myths, scatters scintillating tidbits of new information and shows how the winter of 1944-45 really was the coldest in living memory. This is also a fitting tribute to the 600,000-odd servicemen who served in the largest land battle in US history.
7] Battle – John Toland
Toland was a prolific historian, earning the Pulitzer Prize for his account of Imperial Japan during WWII. This account of the fighting which killed 19,000 Americans is a fast and furious read. Toland was rightly celebrated for his vast research. As with his other books, this wonderfully dramatic history is based on many years of interviewing those who actually made history – who were there in foxholes and at headquarters.
8] Ardennes 1944 – Antony Beevor
My favorite WWII book is Beevor’s “Stalingrad”, a brilliant account of another epic battle. Beevor does not match his classic in this volume but he shows flashes of the genius that has made him the most revered British military historian of his generation. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better account of the build-up to Hitler’s last, desperate gamble. 200,000 enemy troops gathered under the noses of the Allies and then attacked with complete surprise, sending untold Americans fleeing and sewing panic and terror from the forests of Belgium to the heart of Paris. Beevor explains one of the greatest intelligence failures in military history and skillfully traces its dire consequences – some 70,000 US casualties.
9] The Bitter Woods – John S. D. Eisenhower
The son of Allied Supreme Commander, Dwight Eisenhower, provides a meticulous study of leadership at all levels in this ground-breaking book. Eisenhower details the actions and critical decisions of German commanders such as von Runstedt and Dietrich as well as Hitler. But he also gets up close and personal with small units of Americans who carried out their orders to hold at all costs, including the Intelligence and Reconnaissance platoon from the 99th Division which was the subject of my book, The Longest Winter.
10] Patton – Carlo D’Este
I knew Carlo fairly well for many years and greatly admired him as a historian and mentor. This is his best book, a masterful biography of the most celebrated and colorful US combat commander of WWII and, arguably, since the Civil War. Patton’s finest hours came during the Battle of the Bulge and D’Este shows why. Indeed, Patton was the only Allied general to emerge from the ordeal with his reputation enhanced. Like Churchill, Patton had walked beside destiny all his life until being called to greatness. This is a wonderful account of a true giant of WWII.
