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Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's Ardennes Offensive, 1944-1945

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Finally available in soft cover. When it was first published in 1992, THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE: HITLER'S ARDENNES OFFENSIVE, 1944-1945, was truly the first new Battle of the Bulge book published since 1985 when Charles B. MacDonald released A TIME FOR TRUMPETS. The BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) is that this is a fantastic book on the Ardennes campaign. This volume is the perfect compliment to a Battle of the Bulge historical library.

Danny S. Parker took a different route in assembling this book. Battle of the Bulge books, including those that are rushed to publication in advance of battle anniversary dates, tend to be a rehash of the same old material. Not so with Parker's book. Taking it one step further, Parker avoids using the same tired photographs that appear in most other books on the subject. A majority of the photos originate from combat motion picture stills. The photo captions alone offer superb photo analysis.

If you want data, this book has it. Parker's BATTLE OF THE BULGE debunks many of the myths about the battle. For example, very few King Tiger tanks were available for the battle. Additionally, it did not start snowing until midway through the offensive. All of this is backed up by meticulous research.

If you are a Battle of the Bulge historian, you should treat yourself to this book.

Danny S. Parker's "Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's Ardennes Offensive, 1944-1945" is one of the best of the books out there on this, the last dying grasp of the German war machine at the heady days of 1940 in the West. Originally published in 1991, this 2004 edition includes several new additions (including new photos and reference materials) to bring this classic historiography into the present for the reader. Certainly "Battle of the Bulge" is deserving of the praise it has received, but why? Three reasons: outstanding research, expert organization, and stylish writing.

Outstanding Research: Parker did his homework for this one! Unlike so many who write military history, especially WWII history, with a provincial or nationalistic perspective, Parker tells the story from both sides of the "fence". Certainly the U.S. Army is front and center but given the make up of the victorious Allied forces this is not altogether unfair. Readers are treated to various aspects of Bulge history (see next section), not just prose dedicated to combat, but order of battle information for both Allied and German forces, summaries of weapons utilized, views from the top during planning phases, execution and response, and erasure of the Bulge (again from both sides). Moreover, Parker has provided a number of fabulous photographs, many in the "then-and-now" vein.

Expert Organization: Although Parker covers a lot of diverse material related to the Battle of the Bulge (from combat to logistics and post-war museums and battle games), he (and/or his editor) organizes his story in such a way that readers are unlikely to become bored even if not interested in all the individual components. Whether simply related to subject matter or Parker's style of writing, the battle passages, which are interspersed within other topics, are often dry and somewhat difficult to follow. Yet, not clumping them together makes the book flow more easily. Moreover, Parker balances the length of sections quite well such that there are numerous logical places to "rest". Although topics are mixed chapter to chapter, this is not to say that Parker lacks a larger organization or that the book is a random collection of facts. In fact Parker clumps chapters together into five larger "sections":

1) The Setting - this section contains seven distinct chapters, the last three each containing additional sub-chapters. In total The Setting describes the planning phase of Wacht am Rhein, the status of the "Ghost Front" in the weeks and days leading up to the jump-off, the mindset and leadership of the Allied camp before the German attack, and how the logistics of a battle in the Ardennes could be influenced by the Ardennes itself. Parker's prose provides ample information to educate even the most naïve of readers.
2) The First Days: We March - this section is separated into six distinct chapters, the fifth having a sub-chapter. The first five chapters deal with the attackers and their armies (Fifth Panzer Armee, Sixth Panzer Armee, and Seventh Armee), the leadership and it's methods, and lastly a description of the first day of battle (again generally from the perspective of the German side). The last chapter of this section describes the Allied reaction to the surprise attack, which can be fairly called chaotic in the first day.
3) Progress of the Battle - this section details the battle from 17 Dec to the end of Jan when the line resembled that of 15 Dec. This is by far the most battle detailed portion of the book with more than half of the 200-odd pages covering the action from both sides. Filling out the rest of this section are various pieces of non-combat storyline including views from the top (again from both Allied and German perspectives), affects on the civilian population, and views of the combat from embedded non-combatants of the press corps. In addition, "Progress of the Battle" includes a number of important sub-stories of the bigger Bulge story, like the SS atrocities at Malmedy where US PWs were executed in cold-blood. Parker's fair-handedness comes shinning through in this section as he covers the events without making excuses for the SS but while making sure that the reader knows that the Germans were not the only ones to have committed acts beyond those normally accepted in war.
4) Looking Back - this sections details the price paid by both combatants (personnel, armaments, time, psychological effects), how the Bulge fits into the larger picture of the War, and the why's the battles outcome - why did the Germans lose their great gamble? This section provides a nice wrap-up of the rest of the book in a bigger historical perspective. Fabulous!
5) Appendices - In addition to Order of Battle information oft present in Appendices of military history, Parker's contains a wonderful "recommended reading list" (with book descriptions), information on Bulge periodicals, films (both Hollywood-type and documentaries), and simulation games, and a discussion of Ardennes museums and tours. This section alone makes Parker's book a critical resource for the serious.

In the end, "Battle of Bulge" by Danny Parker is a "classic" piece of military history, told with style and full of expertly researched information. Parker's book is a cross between John Toland's "Battle" (engaging story written with flair) and Charles MacDonald's "A Time for Trumpets" (deep with facts and emotion). This is a MUST read for those interested in good history of one of the US Armies most important engagements - 5 stars!

Historian Danny Parker provides a highly readable and scholarly account of Hitler's last offensive in the west, December 1944. Using primary sources and personal interviews, Danny captures the battle like no other author. The book is packed with text, photos, and maps. There are pearls from the battle the reader will delightfully come across that are not found in other accounts. For example, the author address the "Myth and Mystery" surrounding the presence of the infamous German Tiger Tanks in previous historical literature - where they were and with whom they served. Individual chapters discuss the effects of weather, influence of terrain, and differences in weaponry. He appropriately pauses at critical points to analyze the progress of the battle from both the Allied and German perspectives. In addition to a complete order of battle, the book provides a chronological listing of reinforcements committed to the Ardennes. This is a book easily appreciated by both the casual reader and the serious historian. My personal copy is highlighted and annotated. This book belongs in every military history library. If you buy only one book on the Bulge, this is the one to own.

It is difficult to write about a subject like the Battle of the Bulge - which is one of the most covered topics in the Second World War - without appearing either derivative or superficial. However, Danny S. Parker's volume on the 1944 German surprise attack in the Ardennes Forrest is not only well-organized and presented, but it actually manages to deliver a few fresh perspectives along the way. While there are a few rough edges in this volume - particularly the maps - Parker's effort is certainly deserving of the nod as "the standard history" of the campaign. Actually, other than a few issues such as the maps, it is hard to imagine anyone writing a superior narrative on this campaign. If you own only one volume on the Battle of the Bulge, this should be it.

Easily the most impressive feature of Parker's volume is the careful and interesting organization. Parker provides about 60 pages of introductory material that sets the stage, with descriptions of the German plan, Allied decision-making, intelligence issues, the terrain and the weapons. Thenceforth, Parker alternates between narrative chapters that describe the tactical events of the battle on a day-by-day basis and topical chapters that discuss a myriad of interesting subjects (German paratroopers, Tiger tanks, the Malmedy massacre, Skorzeny, the weather, the war correspondents, artillery, forgotten units, civilians and Hemmingway in the battle). The author also provides very detailed orders of battle for both sides, as well as comments on a variety of subjects, such as touring the modern Ardennes. The narrative is supplemented by numerous maps, which unfortunately are difficult to read without a magnifying glass; the German units are particularly difficult to see.

The level of research in this volume is impressive. Parker easily disposes of a number of the myths about the campaign and keeps a keen focus on the main causes and events that led to the German defeat. As Parker sees it - and he presents a very strong case - the initial German attacks in the Ardennes failed, despite surprise and numerical superiority at key points. Although much of the US 106th Infantry Division was lost in the Schnee Eiffel in the first few days, the 28th and 99th Divisions seriously upset the unforgiving German timetable and essentially doomed the offensive to failure within the first 48 hours. By the time that the Germans did punch through the US line in several places, US reinforcements were arriving to hold key positions like Bastogne and the Meuse Crossings. Thus, as Parker sees it, the offensive was a long-shot that quickly lost all hope for success. Although the Allies faced a month of tough fighting in the Ardennes to reverse the German gains, the issue was never really in doubt once the Allies starting piling on fresh divisions. Short of fuel and ammunition, the German forces were unable to compete in sustained combat against the vast stockpile of resources that the US Army applied against them. Parker is unusual in that he actually spends the time to discuss the German logistical weaknesses in some detail, unlike many accounts that gloss over this critical subject. Furthermore, despite the popular history obsession with comparing tanks of both sides, Parker shows that it was the infantry, engineers and artillery who really dominated the battle in the forests and small towns of the Ardennes.

This is a book that should satisfy a fairly diverse audience. Military historians will find it a useful reference with plenty of detail, while casual readers will not find the author's narrative too tedious (the topical chapters provide useful breaks from the dry event narrative chapters) or too bogged down in detail. Overall, this is a superb effort at military history.

This book was a challenge to read. It is highly intellectual and requires knowledge of WWII. The maps help to understand the battle but good have been better laid out for easier understanding. Also it helps in understanding why Hitler did what he did and where the whole campaign went wrong. Mud, Fog,Lack of supplies, No gas all equate to defeating the German war machine. Being hard headed and not listening to his generals killed what was left of the Germn fighting spirit in a humiliating defeat of a great military. Had there bee frozen road and full supplies it might have turned out different. We will never know. There is not alot of commentary from people who fought in the battle but there is some. Mostly from German generals and what went wrong. Only if they could have reached the river then they might have won the battle. There is one pic that shows a field of dead soliers. Other than that its really not to graphic. Be prepared for a challenging read into one of histories most decisive battles to shape western history.

If you like to buy this book, please buy the OLD EDITION. Without mentioning this fact in the web site or intoduction to the book, this new edition surprisely DID NOT contained many of the photos contained in the old edition! I mistakenly buy this edition and fell into the trap! I have to retun it to Amazon. The old edition (soft over) is both cheaper and contained many interesting photos not reproduced in the new edition.