Panzers in Winter: Hitler's Army and the Battle of the Bulge

(Hardback)

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Description

The Battle of the Bulge was the last hurrah for the German Army on the Western Front. With the help of various unpublished sources, Samuel Mitcham sets out to tell the story of that battle and of the Ardennes Offensive from the German point of view. The greatest military disaster the United States suffered in the European Theater of Operations in World War II occurred in the Ardennes Offensive, when most of the U.S. 106th Infantry Division was destroyed in the Schnee Eifel (Snow Mountains). Mitcham covers the Battle of the Schnee Eifel from the German point of view in greater depth than any book has ever done, using unpublished German after-action reports and manuscripts, especially those of Lieutenant Colonel Dietrich Moll, the chief of operations of the 18th Volksgrenadier. Similar unpublished works, as well as the papers of Theodor-Friedrich von Stauffenberg, contribute to a unique account of the Battle of the Bulge.

Reviews

A former Army helicopter pilot and company commander, Mitcham is the author of 20 books on military topics. Drawing on multiple unpublished sources, he describes the Battle of the Bulge and of the Ardennes Offensive from the German perspective. Introductory chapters setting the stage, describing the planning and preparations for the offensive, and the first day of the offensive are followed by chapters covering the battle by sector, the clearing of the bulge, and the subsequent lives and careers of the major participants. Illustrated with B&W photographs and maps. * Reference & Research Book News *
This compelling book offers a new perspective on one of the most important operations of World War II. Mitcham's discovery of new German sources allows for a wealth of new voices, combining the military situation with the politcal, and his somewhat peculiar arrangement ultimately makes those voices more clearly defined. The volume presents a history that will engage specialists as well as casual readers not deeply versed in military history. * H-Net Reviews *
[I]mparts interesting perspectives as to the influence of conflicting personalities.[e]specially for those who are already somewhat familiar with the general nature of the German 1944 Ardennes Offensive, and desire to be quickly brought up to speed, as to the specifics. * The Journal of Military History *

Author Bio

Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr. is an internationally recognized authority on Nazi Germany and the Second World War. He is the author of twenty books, including Crumbling Empire (Praeger, 2001), Retreat from the Reich (Praeger, 2000), and The Desert Fox in Normandy (Praeger, 1997). A former Army helicopter pilot and company commander, he is a graduate of the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College.