RHINELAND THE BATTLE TO END THE WAR

With their backs to the Rhine, crack German troops fought savagely to save their Fatherland in the grim winter of 1945, refusing to back down even with the Allies on their doorstep. The Battle of the Rhineland, the last great attritional battle fought by the Allies in World War II, was underway. As a young combat officer during the Northwest Europe Campaign, Denis Whitaker knew that his survival -- and the survival of the 1,000 men under his command -- depended on his battle skills and cool leadership in action against the relentless Germans. Now, following the highly successful release of the second edition of the authors' award-winning book Tug of The Allied Victory That Opened Antwerp, this landmark study lets the soldiers on both sides tell their stories of this epic clash, from the black humour of the slit trench to their dogged courage under fire. Extensively researched, Rhineland shows how the Rhine was won despite the bickering and infighting among Eisenhower's generals that cost so many young lives.

The authors, Canadian freelance writers, describe WW II operations code-named Grenade, Veritable, Blockbuster, Plunder and Varsity, a six-week series of battles in 1945, in which American, British and Canadian troops under General Omar Bradley and Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery breached the Siegfried Line and crossed the Rhine. Probably the best-known maneuver of the campaign was the pivotal seizure by the U.S. 1st Army of the Remagen bridge on March 8, which opened the way for the breakthrough. In this popularized account, the authors pay tribute to the skillful German resistance (especially the holding action and disciplined withdrawal of the 1st Parachute Army under General Alfred Schlemm), crediting its ferocity in large part to the ill-conceived Allied insistence on "unconditional surrender." The book includes excellent maps, enabling readers to follow the complex unfolding of the campaign. Military Book Club selection.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.