Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge (Casemate Illustrated)

This book is translated from one of a series originally published in 2013 in French by Histoire & Collections, and is authored by French military historian Yves Buffetaut. In size, heft, and paper quality it is similar to the many paperback volumes published by Osprey. It is well illustrated (which evidently is the point of the series) with contemporary black & white photographs, some of well-known images, but others not typically seen before. There are also color side profile views of a few Axis and Allied vehicle types, though these only identify the specific unit being illustrated and provide no technical stats.There are some unusual authorial perspectives as well as a few questionable assertions, and it is interesting to wonder if the French viewpoint influences this, for example:German war crimes during the campaign,especially against civilians, get proportionally more emphasis than in many other histories of this campaign.The notorious Malmedy Massacre is reported with some lurid details (true?) that I for one have never seen mentioned in numerous other histories.Omar Bradley is roundly criticized as being clueless on Day 1.The efforts of Montgomery and the British are cited but basically dismissed entirely.SS panzer troops are referred to (p. 33) as "stormtroopers" which purists will note is actually an accurate term only for the Nazi brown shirt militia.At one point (p. 123) German machine guns are referred to as "Spandaus" a term I've never seen used outside of WWI.The assertion is also made (p.17) that the Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle was "in widespread use in the volksgrenadier divisions" (indeed this is used as one of the cover photos), though every other reference I've ever seen says the deployment of this advanced weapon was almost exclusively on the Eastern front.Overall this is a decent pocket history of the Battle of the Bulge, but is not going to add appreciably to the knowledge of anyone already familiar with that campaign.

Good work.

Found references in the book that my father had told me about the time he spent in the battle. Well written, well researched, and matched the detail Dad gave me.

My first time with The book,s.They make great reading.Tanker,s and all Aircraft Fan,s will love them.

merci

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