In September 1944, with the Allies eager to break into Nazi Germany after Normandy, thirty-five thousand U.S. and British troops parachuted into Nazi held territory in the Netherlands. The controversial offensive, code named Operation Market Garden, was conceived by British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery to secure the lower Rhine--Germany's last great natural barrier in the west--and passage to Berlin. Allied soldiers outnumbered Germans by two to one, but they were poorly armed against the German Panzer tanks and suffered devastating casualties. After nine days of intense fighting, they were forced to retreat. Several months later, in March 1945, Montgomery orchestrated another airborne attack of the Rhine. This time the Allies prevailed and began their march into the heart of the Third Reich. At once a gripping narrative and a moving testament to the courage and tenacity of ordinary soldiers who are thrust into desperate circumstances, Crossing the Rhine moves at a fast pace, delivers a fresh interpretation of the past, and forces us to ask ourselves just what it takes--in blood spilled, in lives lost--to win in war.
- ISBN10 0802144306
- ISBN13 9780802144300
- Publish Date 29 September 2009 (first published 1 November 2008)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press
- Format Paperback
- Pages 448
- Language English