Hitler Gambles and Loses!

Beevor, Anthony.  Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge.  New York: Viking, 2015.
       ISBN: 9780670025312

 After writing about Stalingrad  and D-Day, Anthony Beevor decided to add another tome to the overflowing stacks of books written on the Battle of the Bulge, one of the iconic battles of the Western Front in WWII.  His reasons for writing Ardennes 1944 may be questioned, but not his credentials or skill in presenting the battle.

Beevor opens the book, as many recent volumes on the battle have, with a lengthy discussion on Hitler's role in deciding upon the gamble in the Ardennes followed by coverage of the fighting at Aachen, the Russian Front, and the Hurtgen Forest.  Then he covers the terrain and the initial combatants.  Then comes the main dish, the battle coverage begins on page 111.  With Chapter 8 Saturday 16 December, each day is generally a chapter with events and happenings for each part of the front included.  This lasts until Chapter 19 (Tuesday 26 December).  The last five chapters covers the Allied counterattack, the German Operation Nordwind, and the final conclusion to the battle.

Beevor penned a well-written popular history of the Battle of the Bulge with plenty of exciting stories while still providing the larger picture of the battle.  He provides sources and a select bibliography that can be useful in tracking down more details as desired.  Despite a slight emphasis in the coverage of the Bradley/Montgomery feud, Beevor portrays the Allied and German commanders with enough color that the reader can understand the whys and whats of decisions being made with the information known to the individual commander at that time.  If the reader wants a recent retelling of the Battle of the Bulge, Ardennes 1944 will do nicely.