Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's Alternate Scenarios [Hardcover]

Peter Tsouras (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 19, 2006

Based on a series of fascinating µWhat ifs' posed by leading military historians, this compelling new alternate history recontructs the moments during the Battle of the Bulge which could conceivably have altered the entire course of the Second World War and led to a German victory. Based on real battles, actions and characters, each scenario has been carefully constructed to reveal how at points of decision a different choice or minor incident could have set in motion an entirely new train of events altering history for ever. What if the Germans successfully prevented Patton from riding to the rescue at Bastogne? Or if the Allies had suffered a major setback at the Battle of the Bulge which allowed the Red Army to overrun Berlin and drive on to the Rhine? What if Hitler had not launched his massive gambit and, instead, the Allies had progressed with the operations plan they had prior to the Bulge? These are some of the intriguing scenarios played out by leading authors.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter G. Tsouras is noted military historian and a leading writer of alternative history with 22 titles to his credit on subjects ranging from Alexander the Great to the American Civil War and the Second World War.  He recently retired from the US Government as a senior intelligence officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency.  He served with the 1st Battalion 64th Armor on active duty with the US Army and subsequently retired as Lieutenant Colonel from the United States Army Reserve.  He was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, and currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Greenhill Books; First edition (February 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853676071
• ISBN-13: 978-1853676079
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,707,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ten What If Incidents, November 8, 2004

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's Alternate Scenarios (Hardcover)

An alternative history of a different kind. Ten incidents during World War II are analyzed from a What If standpoint. For instance:

What If Montgomery had made some very minor changes in the organization and training of his troops for D-Day. Could he have captured Caen on the first day? If he had, what would have been the impact?

What If the Canadians had gotten to Falaise to meet Patton and truly close the Falaise gap before the great part of the German support troops and enough fighting formations got out to form the basis for the units that manned the defense of the Rhine and handled the Battle of the Bulge?

After Falaise, Patton appealed to Eisenhower to give him enough fuel for a quick and narrow thrust into Germany. Suppose he had gotten them and sent a spearhead around Metz and crossed the Rhine.

Montgomery proposed the same thing, but of course up North, Operation Market Garden to Arnhem. It failed of course because the releiving forces didn't get there in time. But What If they had.

Ten incidents, they didn't happen, but they could have.

3 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unmentioned 'What Ifs?', August 28, 2005

By 

Claude Bissonette (Dukenfield PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's Alternate Scenarios (Hardcover)

For the purpose of his Chapter 10: Ardennes Disaster, Mr Tsouras conveniently ignores the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which had been adopted in 1933 and states, in part: The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January... If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President.
This is a pretty huge hole.
I'm not going to spoil a fun read, but if Tsouras had included a part where Santa Clause takes a time machine into the Jurassic Age to get a dinosaur to help the Allies defeat Hitler, he would be standing on no less firm scholarly ground than he does with Chapter 10 as it is presently written.