Thomas F. (hardtack) -
This is as very interesting book, as it has its ups and downs. I would not recommend this book to someone unfamiliar with World War II history, as the author obviously has his bias to certain people and nationalities. Yet he often flip-flops his comments about both.
Just as an example, he often refers to 'atrocities' committed by U.S troops, but never any committed by British troops. Yet many such occurred. At first, I felt the author was British, but later he seems to refer to himself as being from Belgium.
He will often be discussing strategic concepts in his narrative, but then switches quickly to personal stories by World War II veterans which are not related to his strategic narrative. Plus, and this is a real problem for those not familiar with World War II history, he often flips back and forth through time to discuss issues without letting you know when they really happened if you are new to World War II. It is almost like the author is going through his notes and writing about events without putting them in chronological order.
At the same time, he discusses many of the "screw-ups" made by Allied generals which delayed the end of the war. Many of which were white-washed in early histories of the war. So this adds value to the book.
I'd love to discuss the book further, but I'll just mention two aspects of it.
The author often mentions the friction between American General Eisenhower and British General Montgomery. Initially, he makes Montgomery look like the better general, but later his remarks are more favorable to Eisenhower. One thing he forgot to mention was that Montgomery didn't publish his memoirs of World War II in Europe until after Eisenhower's death. He did this so he could avoid Eisenhower calling him a blankly-blank liar! In fact, not enough World War II books cover the fact that Eisenhower came very close to having Montgomery relieved of his command.
The author drops comments about the seizure of the Scheldt estuary throughout the book. This was the 60-mile channel from the sea to Antwerp which the Allies needed to shorten their over extended supply lines. After the British Army seized Antwerp, Montgomery called a halt to "tidy up" the battle lines. Something he did more than once in his war career. This was a concept foreign to American, French and even German troops. Their attitude was if the enemy is running away, keep running after him. Many of Patton's tanks often ran dry chasing the Germans across France. As a result, an entire German army escaped to occupy the islands in the estuary. So when Eisenhower finally demanded Montgomery move to clear those islands of German guns preventing shipping from reaching Antwerp, it required two months and serious casualties for the Canadian Army assigned to that task. If those islands had been seized in September, and the Allied supply line shortened, the war in Europe would have ended sooner.
Well, I can't help myself making another comment or two. I never knew the Germans developed a helicopter which saw active duty late during the war. For details see "Flettner Fl 282" on Wikipedia. Plus, while the author mentions the German jet fighter in the book, he overlooks the British Gloster Meteor jet fighter (see Wikipedia) which also saw active duty, mostly against the German V-2 rockets. And I was intrigued when the author claimed all the V-2s launched against Allied cities resulted in just an average of two deaths per rocket.
Finally, I want to give the author credit for a sense of humor. He has interesting titles for all his chapters. For the chapter discussing the battle for the Hurtgen Forest, a serious American mistake, he uses the title "If You Go Down To The Woods." This is the opening line from the 1932 song "The Teddy Bear's Picnic," which was a favorite from my early childhood.
Just as an example, he often refers to 'atrocities' committed by U.S troops, but never any committed by British troops. Yet many such occurred. At first, I felt the author was British, but later he seems to refer to himself as being from Belgium.
He will often be discussing strategic concepts in his narrative, but then switches quickly to personal stories by World War II veterans which are not related to his strategic narrative. Plus, and this is a real problem for those not familiar with World War II history, he often flips back and forth through time to discuss issues without letting you know when they really happened if you are new to World War II. It is almost like the author is going through his notes and writing about events without putting them in chronological order.
At the same time, he discusses many of the "screw-ups" made by Allied generals which delayed the end of the war. Many of which were white-washed in early histories of the war. So this adds value to the book.
I'd love to discuss the book further, but I'll just mention two aspects of it.
The author often mentions the friction between American General Eisenhower and British General Montgomery. Initially, he makes Montgomery look like the better general, but later his remarks are more favorable to Eisenhower. One thing he forgot to mention was that Montgomery didn't publish his memoirs of World War II in Europe until after Eisenhower's death. He did this so he could avoid Eisenhower calling him a blankly-blank liar! In fact, not enough World War II books cover the fact that Eisenhower came very close to having Montgomery relieved of his command.
The author drops comments about the seizure of the Scheldt estuary throughout the book. This was the 60-mile channel from the sea to Antwerp which the Allies needed to shorten their over extended supply lines. After the British Army seized Antwerp, Montgomery called a halt to "tidy up" the battle lines. Something he did more than once in his war career. This was a concept foreign to American, French and even German troops. Their attitude was if the enemy is running away, keep running after him. Many of Patton's tanks often ran dry chasing the Germans across France. As a result, an entire German army escaped to occupy the islands in the estuary. So when Eisenhower finally demanded Montgomery move to clear those islands of German guns preventing shipping from reaching Antwerp, it required two months and serious casualties for the Canadian Army assigned to that task. If those islands had been seized in September, and the Allied supply line shortened, the war in Europe would have ended sooner.
Well, I can't help myself making another comment or two. I never knew the Germans developed a helicopter which saw active duty late during the war. For details see "Flettner Fl 282" on Wikipedia. Plus, while the author mentions the German jet fighter in the book, he overlooks the British Gloster Meteor jet fighter (see Wikipedia) which also saw active duty, mostly against the German V-2 rockets. And I was intrigued when the author claimed all the V-2s launched against Allied cities resulted in just an average of two deaths per rocket.
Finally, I want to give the author credit for a sense of humor. He has interesting titles for all his chapters. For the chapter discussing the battle for the Hurtgen Forest, a serious American mistake, he uses the title "If You Go Down To The Woods." This is the opening line from the 1932 song "The Teddy Bear's Picnic," which was a favorite from my early childhood.
