The Victors
The Men of WWII
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- €2.99
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- €2.99
Publisher Description
The Victors is a breathtaking new work from bestselling historian Stephen E. Ambrose, author of the classic book Band of Brothers.
It follows the momentous events of the Second World War from D-Day, 6 June 1944, through to the final days when the Allied soldiers pushed the German troops out of France, chased them across Germany. Finally, on VE Day, 7 May 1945, they could celebrate the destruction of the Nazi regime as victory in Europe was secured. At the centre of this epic drama are the citizen soldiers, the boys who became men as they fought, eventually proving unbeatable.
Drawing from his extensive research for his previous bestselling books on the conflict, Ambrose creates one of the most exciting single-volume histories of World War II ever written. The Victors is a compelling celebration of military genius and heroism, and of camaraderie and courage.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ambrose has established himself as both a major biographer of Dwight Eisenhower and the definitive chronicler of America's combat soldiers in the D-Day campaign of 1944-45. But after Citizen Soldiers, he'd sworn off war and given away his WWII books. Then his editor convinced him to do "a book on Ike and the GIs, drawing on my previous writings"--such as Citizen Soldiers, D-Day and The Supreme Commander. "Alice Mayhew made me do it," Ambrose writes here. Readers familiar with Ambrose's work will find familiar set pieces, familiar anecdotes, even familiar phrases, but this is more than a clip job. It stands on its own as the story of the GIs who fought their way from Normandy's beaches and hedgerows across Europe. Few were prepared for combat against a Wehrmacht that was dangerous even in decline, and both enlisted men and officers learned through hard-earned experience. While admiring Eisenhower's character and generally affirming his performance as supreme Allied commander, Ambrose is sharply critical of such costly slugging matches as the one in the Huertgen Forest, which continued during the fall and winter of 1944 on orders from senior officers unaware of conditions in the front lines and unable to develop an alternative to frontal assault. But by the final thrust into Germany in the spring of 1945, the U.S. Army's fighting power was second to none. Once more, Ambrose does what few others do as well--vividly portray the sacrifices and achievements of democracy's army.
