A Blood-Dimmed Tide: The Battle of the Bulge by the Men Who Fought It (Dell World War II Library) [Mass Market Paperback]

Gerald Astor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 3, 1993

The gripping story of unmatched courage in the face of terrible adversity - How a band of brothers fought off a German Army - One of WWII's bloodiest battles The Bulge was, for America, the bloodiest battle of the war. Here, in this compelling narrative, that shocking story is retold with intensity and verve by a first-rate writer and historian. Astor uses personal accounts to chart every phase of the battle from the very first moment of the German counterattack right through the desperate and ultimately successful Allied effort to fend it off. Drawing on eyewitness accounts, private diaries and reports, Astor recreates the battle fought in the snowy hills of Belgium and reveals the conflict as an astonishing battle for survival against atrocious conditions and a determined enemy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Astor ( The Last Nazi ) synthesizes interviews, diaries and correspondence in this evocative treatment of the Battle of the Bulge from a first-hand, front-line perspective. Through the testimony of German and U.S. participants, he re-creates the confusion and brutality of the war, the Germans' determination to break through at any cost, and the desperate American resistance that frustrated Hitler's last offensive. Many of Astor's interviewees, overrun by the German advance, became prisoners of war. Their accounts of their experiences in a collapsing Reich are the most original contribution of a work that, with its focus on the human aspects of the fighting in the Ardennes, brilliantly complements Charles MacDonald's A Time for Trumpets. Military Book Club main dual selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Vivid account of the Wehrmacht's final offensive, by Astor (The Last Nazi, 1985, etc.). Exhaustively researched, much of it narrated by participants, this is a chronicle in the style of the new military history, conveying an experience as well as a report on a military action. The immediacy and clarity of enlisted men's accounts form the core reality here, giving a palpable sense of infantry and tank warfare. Comparisons with George Feifer's Tennozan (p. 368) are inevitable, but Astor is less culturally concerned, more closely focused on this final, deadly spasm of Hitler's inspiration. The German leadership is unforgettable--flamboyant Otto Skorzeny (who arranged for Germans to masquerade as Americans); alcoholic Sepp Deitrich, Hitler's old buddy, now an incompetent general; and, above all, the cunning, sinister SS Lt. Col. Jochen Peiper, already associated with Russian front atrocities. Astor begins with a grim military comedy of errors: Deitrich's refusal to supplement radios with carrier pigeons, German soldiers who can't speak English, and a nightmare parachute drop in a gale. The Allies oblige, refusing to believe tanks can be used in the Ardennes, failing to grasp the reality when it's upon them, losing crucial information and bickering. The progress of Kampfgruppe Peiper is a black thread of terror running through the narrative. As its tanks grind forward, tiny US units sacrifice themselves. A cook covers the retreat of his unit with a machine gun, then is captured and killed; the SS massacres inconvenient prisoners; Pfc. Mel Biddle is sent on a mission during which he kills 17 Germans and takes out a machine gun with his M-1. Eventually, the 101st Airborne holes up in Bastogne and will not be dislodged, and Kampfgruppe Peiper meets a flaming G”tterd„mmerung, its men escaping on foot in the snow. Strong narrative, sound history, and a good read. (Photos and maps--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Dell (December 3, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440215749
• ISBN-13: 978-0440215745
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #984,764 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Military > Strategy

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent general history of the battle., February 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Blood-Dimmed Tide: The Battle of the Bulge by the Men Who Fought It (Dell World War II Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

"A Blood Dimmed Tide" is a good general study of the Battle of the Bulge that is written more for the recreational reader than the serious student. Overall, the book is well-written and contains a bunch of great stories about the individual veterans who fought in the battle.(Albeit related decades later.) If you're a fan of Stephen Ambrose's books on WWII then you will no doubt enjoy this book which is written in a very similar style. If you're looking for a David Glantz-like study of the campaign then you should pass this one by.

I should note that the paperback edition of this book continues to support one of the biggest inaccuracies of photographic record of the war. The book claims to show a picture of SS Lt. Colonel Jochen Pieper- the picture of the cigar smoking SS soldier on the road to Malmedy. It has been proven repeatedly that the man in those pictures is not Peiper. Yet numerous sources have included those pictures claiming them to be those of Peiper, and to see a book written in the '90's still clinging to this inaccuracy is annoying.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars C'Mon it's only 5 bucks!, April 4, 2001

By 

Chad R. Reihm (Miami Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Blood-Dimmed Tide: The Battle of the Bulge by the Men Who Fought It (Dell World War II Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

Just for the fact that this book is filled with first hand accounts of the Battle of the Bulge should be enough to convince any WW2 Buff to buy it. But add on the fact that it is only 5 bucks and noone interested in history should pass this up. Other reviewers are a little off base when they state that this book is a complete history (it doesn't try to be) and when they state it is boring (I have finished it in under a week); neither of these claims are true. It is a very important book because it is filled with guys stories who were actually there and that is the most important thing you can get from the history books. Couple this book with the monumental 'Time for Trumpets' and you have a powerful one-two punch on the Battle of the Bulge!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astor does it again!, April 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Blood-Dimmed Tide: The Battle of the Bulge by the Men Who Fought It (Dell World War II Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

Like in his book about Okinawa, Operation Iceburg, Gerald Astor has written another oral biography of a major WWII battle. This time, the Battle of the Bulge. And like Operation Iceburg, this book is terrific. It is really like being there. Astor has allowed the veterans to tell their own story and in doing so one clearly sees the importance of what our young men did in the 1940s to save the world from the Nazis. Read this book and thank a WWII veteran.