Description
Book SynopsisIt was the greatest single battle the U.S. Army ever fought. More than a million GIs were involved and nearly 80,000 became casualties. The Allied generals had to rally beaten, dispirited troops in the face of an attack they had never dreamed possible.A study in command, from generals to squad leaders, The Bitter Woods follows von Runstedt, Dietrich, and of course Hitler, as closely as the Americans. As son of the supreme commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, a West Point graduate, a retired Army brigadier general, and a military historian, John Eisenhower is uniquely qualified to tell how the Allied generals (nearly all of whom he knew personally) met Hitler''s challenge how the two armies fought fiercely in the Ardennes from December 1944 to January 1945 and how the Allied victory broke the back of Nazi aggression.
Table of ContentsBook I: The Road to the Ardennes * Only Cheerful Faces * The Results Will Be Incalculable * Paris Detour * Antwerp Is the Key * We Can Still Lose This War in Europe Book II: Preparations for the Master Stroke * Watch on the Rhine * Hitler Overrides His Generals * The Fog and Mists of the Eifel * Allied Intelligence Is Befuddled Book III: Assault * We March! * Breakthrough Book IV: Crisis * St.-Vith Stems the Northern Tide * I Am Mighty Glad to See You! * High-Water Mark Decimation of the Wehrmacht * Crisis in the Allied High Command * Friction with de Gaulle * Closing the Bulge * Mission Fulfilled * The Final Analysis
