Rangers on the Western Front!

 Druy, Bob, & Tom Clavin.  The Last Hill: The Epic Story of a Ranger Battalion and the Battle 

           That Defined WWII.  New York: St. Martin's Press, 2022.  ISBN: 9781250247162

If you know World War II history, you know of Rudder's Rangers.  They were the 2nd Ranger Battalion that climbed the cliffs at Omaha Beach to seek and destroy the big guns.  They also played an important role in the capture of the port of Brest.  They performed magnificently on both, but then came their final major mission - the storming and holding of Castle Hill (also known as Hill 400) in the Hurtgen Forest in December 1944.  The Last Hill is a detailed look at this key fight.

But before they get to that fight, Bob Druy and Tom Clavin provides the reader the history and backstory of the 2nd Ranger Battalion by dividing the book into 5 parts with a number of chapters per part.  Part 1: The Rangers - provides the background on why Rangers were created, introduce the members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, and their training for D-Day.  Part II: The Beach - follows the 2nd Rangers as they scale the cliffs at Omaha Beach, discover the empty bunkers and then locate and destroy the targeted weapons among other heroic actions.  Part III: The Fortress - highlight the actions and individuals of the 2nd Rangers during the campaign to take Brest.  Part IV: The Forest - covers the hellish experiences of the 2nd Rangers in the Hurtgen Forest.  Part V: The Hill charges the reader alongside the 2nd Rangers as they make their way to Bergstein, assault and take Castle Hill from the entrenched defenders men that had turned back multiple regiments with 130 men and then held the hill against all that the Germans could throw at them.  One week later, the Battle of the Bulge opened. The 2nd Ranger's role for the rest of the war is briefly covered in the Epilogue and Afterword.

In The Last Hill, Bob Druy and Tom Clavin provides the reader with insight on an epic battle that is all to often only a footnote in the fight for the Hurtgen Forest.  This tale and these individuals should be more widely know!  If you enjoy stirring history, you will want to read The Last Hill!