Alamo In The Ardennes: The Untold Story of the American Soldiers Who Made the Defense of Bastogne Possible
The 101st Airborne's legendary defense of Bastogne during the Battle  of the Bulge hinged on small groups of outnumbered American soldiers slowing  the German advance, argues McManus in this spirited account of December  16–20, 1944, before the 101st arrived. By that time, Hitler knew that  stopping the Russians was hopeless, but gambled that a crushing blow to the  Allies might win a negotiated peace. His plan pivoted on the capture of  Bastogne in two days, with German forces moving in fast before their advantage  of surprise and local superiority in forces evaporated. Hitler believed  American forces would crumble at the massive onslaught—and many units did  flee or surrender. But McManus (The Americans at  D-Day) makes an excellent case that victory came down to a dozen  units battling against overwhelming odds until, after four days of brutal  attrition, the remnants straggled into Bastogne to join the newly arrived  101st. Like all good niche military history, the book describes small unit  actions in detail. Soldiers who ran away left few records, so almost everyone  here fights bravely. By focusing on a less familiar period, McManus makes a  modest but original contribution to the vast WWII literature. 20 b&w  photos.(Mar.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.