What do you think?
Rate this book
Last Assault: 1944 - The Battle of the Bulge Reassessed
It has generally been assumed by historians of the Second World War that the Americans were caught completely unawares by the last great German Offensive - the drive into the Ardenees in December, 1944, known as the Battle of the Bulge.
But were they in fact caught unawares? In this remarkable reappraisal of those hectic days which preceded the last Christmas of the War, Charles Whiting argues that the answer is very probably that they were not. Which immediately poses the 'if the Americans knew that the Germans were coming, why didn't they reinforce the troops on the weakly held Ardennes sector of the front line?' Why indeed!
What is certain is that ever since the end if the Second World War the guardians of the files relating to the Battle of the Bulge in the United States have been most unwilling to permit any examination thereof - this is spite of the Freedom of Information Act. So the author raises yet another 'Was somebody trying to cover something up and if so why?'
On the basis of such information as he has been able to cull from those, as yet unsorted, files and on information provided by the numerous survivors of the battle with whom he has been in contact, Charles Whiting attempts to answer these questions, and in so doing suggests that, if and when all the information relating to the Battle of the Bulge is made available, a serious reappraisal of that brief but bloody campaign, in which thousands of young American soldiers lost their lives at a time when many regarded the war as virtually won, may be required.
But were they in fact caught unawares? In this remarkable reappraisal of those hectic days which preceded the last Christmas of the War, Charles Whiting argues that the answer is very probably that they were not. Which immediately poses the 'if the Americans knew that the Germans were coming, why didn't they reinforce the troops on the weakly held Ardennes sector of the front line?' Why indeed!
What is certain is that ever since the end if the Second World War the guardians of the files relating to the Battle of the Bulge in the United States have been most unwilling to permit any examination thereof - this is spite of the Freedom of Information Act. So the author raises yet another 'Was somebody trying to cover something up and if so why?'
On the basis of such information as he has been able to cull from those, as yet unsorted, files and on information provided by the numerous survivors of the battle with whom he has been in contact, Charles Whiting attempts to answer these questions, and in so doing suggests that, if and when all the information relating to the Battle of the Bulge is made available, a serious reappraisal of that brief but bloody campaign, in which thousands of young American soldiers lost their lives at a time when many regarded the war as virtually won, may be required.
- GenresHistoryWorld War II
256 pages, Paperback
First published December 21, 1994
12 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Charles Whiting
256 books52 followersCharles Whiting was a British writer and military historian and with some 350 books of fiction and non-fiction to his credit, under his own name and a variety of pseudonyms including Ian Harding, Duncan Harding, K.N. Kostov, John Kerrigan, Klaus Konrad, and Leo Kessler.
Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years.
After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy.
His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II.
One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer.
"He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books."
Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years.
After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy.
His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II.
One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer.
"He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books."
Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 25, 2016
It is said to find that you detest a book. It is starting to seem to me that there is no Conspiracy that Whiting isn't going to stand behind if it puts the Americans in a bad light. Forget the lack of evidence and how hard it would be to hide some of the things that he is talking about. The thought that Ike would be able to hide from all of SHAEF, a headquarters that numbered in the thousands, the fact that he was going to sacrifice a number of divisions to draw the Germans out into the open is almost incomprehensible. It doesn't slow Whiting down in the least as he cherry picks his way through facts to find ones that support his conclusions, instead of looking more deeply into the subject and trying to determine if it is feasible, much less possible. He tries to use the Japanese Diplomatic code to show that Ike should have known that an offensive was coming and where it was going to happen as well as when. However the excerpts he uses seem more to confuse the issue than to clear it up. The dates change, the locations change only the objective stays the same. Not exactly what anyone would call rock solid Intel, but Whiting stresses that it was accurate and revealed all that was needed.
It wouldn't be so bad if he brought it up and then stuck to the facts as a supposition, or a possibility, but it is his main point and he hammers after it over and over again until any other value of the book is lost in his main argument. For me this book is unreadable and should be avoided. Unless of course you are enamored with unsupportable conspiracy theory.
It wouldn't be so bad if he brought it up and then stuck to the facts as a supposition, or a possibility, but it is his main point and he hammers after it over and over again until any other value of the book is lost in his main argument. For me this book is unreadable and should be avoided. Unless of course you are enamored with unsupportable conspiracy theory.
December 16, 2020
Mr. Whiting's premise that General Eisenhower purposely made the Ardennes sector weak to lure the Germans into attack and thus be able to defeat them in open battle is interesting. however, the author provides no evidence that Eisenhower actually articulated this plan to anyone. His analysis of this notion verges on conspiracy theory. The description of the fighting throughout the Ardennes is good and is probably the value one can can get out of this book.
December 31, 2014
I really wish I could rate this book higher. Whiting's talent for good combat narratives shines through in this book, and he also gives plenty of attention to lesser known American units and leaders that contributed to the eventual victory in the Battle of the Bulge. That said, this book has some glaring and serious issues.
There are no maps, photos, or other illustrations, a weakness shared with the other eBooks of Whiting's (if not the print editions, with which I have no experience). The main problem is that is book is built around a conspiracy theory, and it is basically another tirade against Whiting's bete noir, Dwight Eisenhower. It's an OK read if you can get this book for free, like I did, but I certainly wouldn't recommend buying it. There are much better histories of the Battle of the Bulge out there. In fact, there are a lot of them.
There are no maps, photos, or other illustrations, a weakness shared with the other eBooks of Whiting's (if not the print editions, with which I have no experience). The main problem is that is book is built around a conspiracy theory, and it is basically another tirade against Whiting's bete noir, Dwight Eisenhower. It's an OK read if you can get this book for free, like I did, but I certainly wouldn't recommend buying it. There are much better histories of the Battle of the Bulge out there. In fact, there are a lot of them.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews