Hitler's Ardennes Offensive: The German View of the Battle of the Bulge

by Danny S. Parker (Editor)

Now in paperback, this classic work gives unparalleled insight into the German view of the offensive known to Germany as Wacht am Rhein and to the Allies as the Battle of the Bulge. The book vividly recounts how Hitler and his generals perceived the progress and ultimate failure of their final great assault. The Ardennes offensive in December 1944 surprised the Allies with its ferocity, and was intended to turn the course of the war in Germany's favour. Numerous subsequent accounts of the battle have tended towards the perspective of the Allied victors, lacking first-hand detail about German intentions and operations. Now for the first time in a single volume, historian Danny S. Parker has brought together many rare documents representing the views of all the major personalities within the German army headquarters. These include Oberstgruppenfuhrer Josef Dietrich and Generalmajor Fritz Kramer, General Hasso von Manteuffel, Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel and others. Everything from preparations for the offensive, to attitudes to the whole campaign before it started and after it was brought to a close are covered in this book. As with "Fighting in Hell" and "The Anvil of War", two Greenhill books presenting accounts of campaigns in Russia written by the senior German officers involved, "Hitler's Ardennes Offensive" provides a fascinating and invaluable record of the German perspective, essential for a balanced view of the battle.    

Genres: History, World War II, Military Fiction, Germany

264 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1997

About the author

Danny Parker is a life-long World War II historian with a strong focus on the Battle of the Bulge and it's major participants. He is a former research consultant the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff on the Battle of the Bulge. He has published numerous articles and books on the subject and has designed three simulation games on the Ardennes campaign. In addition to his study of World War II Mr. Parker is interested in Zen, low-energy housing and good coffee.

Reviews

[Fredrick Danysh]

The work begins with transcripts of interviews of two German commanders at the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. These transcripts are then followed with a detail look at German operations in the Ardennes.

[Drpsychorat]

An excellent book from the German officer perspective. Much detail and thoughtful consideration of the attack which was doomed to fail from the start.

[Luka Novak]

This is a book composed of transcripts of interviews conducted by US Army in the years after WW2. As such it shows how Germans saw the battle and offers insight into German perspective and assessments. Because material are interviews of German generals by US Army it's built on the basis of knowing how battle unfolded and the interviews are just filling the blanks and attempt to look at known event from German perspective. Germans were required to provide details on specific events more than narrate the battle.

As such reader is required to have same, or at least similar, knowledge of the battle to be able to follow the book. Interviewee would talk about how on certain day certain division tried to take certain village (or some other geographical feature) and why it failed. So if you, the reader, don't know about this particular fight then entire section is not only hard to follow but you'll miss the point.

In a way this is both the strength and weakness of the book. Strength because it provides details about something you are familiar with and weakness because you may not have the general knowledge beforehand. So don't pick up this book to learn about the offensive itself, pick it up if you need more detailed knowledge about it.