[ The Battle of the Bulge: A Graphic History of Allied Victory in the Ardennes, 1944-1945 Vansant, Wayne ( Author ) ] { Paperback } 2014

by Wayne Vansant

Excellent Book

Genres: Graphic Novels, History, War, Nonfiction, Childrens, World War II

Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

I was born and raised near Atlanta, GA, and served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. I graduated from the Atlanta College of Art in 1975 and have had many jobs, including being a salesman, security guard, milk delivery man, and the Director of Security for a large art museum.

I began my writing and illustration career in 1986 with Marvel Comics' "Savage Tales" and "The 'Nam." Since then I have written and/or illustrated many books and comics on historical/military subjects such as Battle Group Peiper, Days of Darkness, Antietam: The Fiery Trial (commissioned by the National Park Service), Blockade: The Civil War at Sea, The War in Korea, The Hammer and the Anvil (profiling Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass), Normandy (profiling D-Day and the entire Normandy Campaign), Gettysburg (profiling the Battle of Gettysburg), and many others.

I am currently working on graphic histories of the Battle of the Bulge, Manfred von Richthofen, aka the Red Baron, and and am finishing up my Russian Front trilogy entitled Katusha: Girl Soldier of the Patriotic War, which is currently available as an eBook on Comics Plus, a leading comics book app.

Reviews

[Chris Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good graphic novel used the way they can and should be used in history. Good art work and accurate information, although it gets a little jumbled as all history does when dealing with an issue this complex. Graphics bring the story to life (and death,) and yet present a good picture of the events. A small amount of sloppy editing is annoying, (ellided letters and misnamed units on maps). Maps should have been much better. He has done the research and covers at least four side bar topics, rarely mentioned in other sources. Well done for the most part and eddifying.

[Paul Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read with my 8yo. A little too much military strategy for my liking, but still a helpful guide to Germany’s last gasp in WWII. What sacrifice by that generation…90,000 American casualties, and I hardly remember reading about it in history class.

[Codepoetz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this blow-by-blow description of the battles fought in western Europe during the winter of 1944. The interesting historical events are described at a high level (troop movements) and at the ground level (personal accounts from individual soldiers). I just wish the maps were more useful.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended

[Jurij Fedorov · Rating 5 out of 5]

As all his other books it's not super detailed. It's a fast overview with zoomed in pictures of faces and then soldiers shooting. We don't get enough maps or detailed plans. All is zoomed in. He still doesn't quite understand that you need to draw battles from the distance at times showing formations and groups. And towns and street outlines. Yet luckily he does add a few maps.

As an overview it's simple and direct with action and drama. Obviously not ideal, but gets the job done. There are movies and videos of this too yet I think the comic book format adds a curious way to understand it. I just wish it was more technical. He is still obsessed with names of everything. Instead of just using name tags all the text refers to this or that unit or commander. Stuff we don't care about.

Curiously he claims Americans won Battle of the Bulge. I always considered this a loss as the arrogant Allies had pushed too deep into Nazi territory and held towns with too few units thinking Germans had no proper divisions left and couldn't attack. Germany's attack and surprised Americans who defended the region with air support until the fog lifted and they could finally get a few wins. But I actually see his point here. Americans had greater casualties and many civilians who were just freed were now dying in the German advance. Yet a defensive German fight would have been way more deadly to Americans. Usually you'd lose way more men as you need to take bunkers, houses, trenches, and tanks waiting around. Here Germans lost a lot of units they could not afford to lose anymore as they now couldn't capture new nations to create a greater army. It was half and half. Half the advances failed giving Americans enough wins and they also held strong overall despite getting attacked by an army they thought didn't exist. Yet he always claims Americans won in all his books.

Today it is considered the great Allied battle of WW2. The one that won the war besides what happened on the Eastern front. So it is a historic victory in that sense.

[Brandon Skanes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read! Wayne Vansant made sure to include both sides of the conflict, which is an important part of historical texts. This also brought me back to grade 6, when myself and my friends would check out books (usually short novels and storybooks) about military history at our school library.

[Nathan Poirier · Rating 5 out of 5]

love the illustrated pictures on the battle between the Germans and the Americans. i also love how it gives two different point of views of the Germans and the Americans. this graphic novel is a must read and a book that'll set the mood.

[Mark Singer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished another of Vanssnt’s graphic novel histories. As with the others, this would be a good starter for a younger reader who is interested in history, snd there is a good bibliography for additional reading.

[Tommy Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was good

[Mickey Bits · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent graphic history.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a great deal and yet there were a number of times the telling felt disjointed and I had to reread parts. Glad I read it!

[Bob Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

An educational and enjoyable read.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to do a Q&A with the homeschoolers as part of our World History series. Plus, when you work with boys, comic books win the day. Vansant is a hero in this regard because he turns the bits of history into fun for the students.

And, I'm really starting to feel like a broken record here, and not just the preface to my review. I'm not really feeling these books from either a casual reader's view, nor as an educator's view.

For the kids it is a narrative with lots of pictures, an easy read, and fairly interesting. Despite of this, I found it not quite what I expected for a comic book, and not in depth enough for a history book. As a retelling of the Battle of the Bulge, it seems to do a pretty good job of laying things out to show you what is going on -- there was a MAP.

Yes, I get excited about maps because it helps the reader, especially young ones that don't know the area, see where the action is happening.

From a history standpoint, the data is accurate and understandable, so I'd give it a 3.5. Like most of Vansant's other comic books in this area, it might be enough to pique someone's interest, but there was scant depth to some other parts of the story. What he does well though, besides the map, is show a little bit more of diplomacy, how civilian had a hand in the wars -- and how they dealt with a lot of the drama.

As I did with the other Vansant books, I took the time to check the info against a military historian, Travis Beiersdorfer, as well as someone who was there. I also checked this with a vet that was there, and he was quite happy with the presentation. He thought it would be a good start for kids to see some of what he and his companions had to deal with.

[Anne Mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Battle of the Buldge: A Graphic History of Allied Victory in the Ardennes, 1944-1945 by Wayne Vansant

Author and Illustrator, Wayne Vansant takes readers on an historic journey through WWII’s Battle of the Bulge in rich graphic novel form. Celebrated for his accurate recounting of American history in graphic novel format with works including The Graphic History of Gettysburg, The Red Baron, and Normandy, the author does it again with this work as he depicts this famous battle in a truly accessible way. Readers will feel the cold and pain of this bloody and confusing battle, tremble with fear and hopelessness as they fight in Hitler Germany, hear the constant artillery fire and ultimately, experience the triumph of our soldiers.

This is an excellent addition to any junior high or high school library. I highly recommend this work, indeed, any work by Wayne Vansant.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Background knowledge of this topic will be very useful to the reader. Even though I feel like I have a fairly good grasp of the basic issues of WWII, I was definitely still struggling to keep track of characters and places. I also found it frustrating that the maps throughout the book did not necessarily provide all the information I would have liked.
Graphics are well done, although one needs to pay close attention to the difference of the uniforms to tell the two armies apart. Author does a good job of clarifying any German terms used.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great companion to Vansant's Normandy: A Graphic History of D-Day and his Bombing Nazi Germany: The Graphic History of the Allied Air Campaign that Defeated Hitler in World War II. (This reader wishes someone would follow Vansant's lead and produce similar graphic histories of the Eastern Front and the Pacific Front.)

[LINDA HORCHLER · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing

Like reading a comic book with too many words. Would have rather read a real book. Waste of time and money,,
Star rating 2