The Epic Trilogy of World War II comprises The Longest Day: The Normandy Landing, 1944; A Bridge Too Far: Operation Market Garden, 1944; and The Last Battle: The Battle of Berlin, 1945. Written over nearly 30 years by acclaimed historian and war correspondent Cornelius Ryan after experiencing World War II firsthand, these epic works vividly recreate three decisive battles and the great historical moments that shaped the fate of the world. This is the second volume, A Bridge Too Far: Operation Market Garden, 1944.
Field Marshal Montgomery said, “It was 90 percent successful.” But every battle has only two possible outcomes: success or failure!
In an effort to end the war in Europe by the end of 1944, the Allied high command, buoyed by a string of victories after the successful Normandy landings, launched an unprecedented combined offensive by airborne and ground armored forces. More than 5,500 transport planes, 2,596 gliders, and over 8,000 fighter and bomber aircraft were deployed to drop 35,000 paratroopers behind German lines and capture the bridge at Arnhem spanning the Rhine…
This was the Battle of Arnhem, codenamed Operation Market Garden. Bold and imaginative, it was also one of the Allies’ greatest defeats on the European front. The Allies paid dearly, suffering twice as many casualties as during the Normandy landings. Of the 10,000 men in the British Airborne Division alone, 1,400 were killed, 6,000 captured, and only 2,300 managed to break through.
A Bridge Too Far is the definitive history of Operation Market Garden. Despite being terminally ill, author Cornelius Ryan devoted the last of his strength to the project, spending seven years interviewing more than 1,200 people and searching through a vast sea of diaries, letters, reports, and other documents to uncover the truth and details of history. He reconstructs in full the course of this intensely dramatic battle, from its planning to its failure.
This is a harrowing struggle, a war epic that makes the soul tremble. The paratroopers, isolated and without support behind enemy lines, faced cruelty, despair, and grief, yet displayed a tragic heroism. Ryan’s deeply moving prose brings their story vividly to life.
This is a strategic failure, an extraordinary feat of execution, and the history of the nine days and nights of the Battle of Arnhem. It turns a heartbreaking defeat into an enduring memory and lesson for generations to come.
This great battle can never be fought again, and this timeless classic can never be rewritten. In today’s commercial world, far from the smoke of battle, A Bridge Too Far remains a book worth revisiting time and again, one that readers can benefit from throughout their lives.
Good, good, good, good