Raid!: The Untold Story of Patton's Secret Mission [Mass Market Paperback]

Richard Baron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 8, 2000

The orders came from Patton himself: Take a strike force behind enemy lines--with no air or ground support--and liberate a POW camp at Hammelburg, where Patton's son-in-law was held. Captain Abe Baum and an armored task force answered the call, crashing through an enemy-held town, plunging into German territory, and fighting their way to Hammelburg. With the German army closing in around them, the raiders kept going, until they had liberated 1,500 prisoners of war.

Baum's Raiders had just achieved an impossible objective. Now they had to get back out....RAID!
Written by the men who were there, Raid! is the gripping real-life story of a controversial mission in the heart of World War II. From the belly of a Sherman Tank pelted with enemy fire to the POWs waiting behind barbed wire, this is a thrilling, you-are-there chronicle of human courage--in the face of impossible odds.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"ELOQUENT...UTTERLY BELIEVABLE...IT IS DOUBTFUL WHETHER ANYONE EVER BELIEVED PATTON'S VERSION OF THIS CAPER, BUT IF ANYONE DID, HE CAN'T NOW. CASE CLOSED."
-- The New York Times Book Review

"A true war story that reads like a novel."
-- The Boston Globe

"RIVETING."
-- The Denver Post

"EXCELLENT...THE COLOR AND EXCITEMENT OF A FIRST-RATE NOVEL."
-- Los Angeles Times

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From the Inside Flap

The orders came from Patton himself: Take a strike force behind enemy lines--with no air or ground support--and liberate a POW camp at Hammelburg, where Patton's son-in-law was held. Captain Abe Baum and an armored task force answered the call, crashing through an enemy-held town, plunging into German territory, and fighting their way to Hammelburg. With the German army closing in around them, the raiders kept going, until they had liberated 1,500 prisoners of war.

Baum's Raiders had just achieved an impossible objective. Now they had to get back out....RAID!
Written by the men who were there, Raid! is the gripping real-life story of a controversial mission in the heart of World War II. From the belly of a Sherman Tank pelted with enemy fire to the POWs waiting behind barbed wire, this is a thrilling, you-are-there chronicle of human courage--in the face of impossible odds.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Dell (August 8, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440236096
• ISBN-13: 978-0440236092
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,026,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reliving what my father went through, May 12, 2007

By 

Beatrice M. Burke (Berkeley Heights, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raid!: The Untold Story of Patton's Secret Mission (Mass Market Paperback)

My father was a member of the reconn platoon on this raid. He received the Silver Star for action taken at the railroad yards at Gemunden. To read the book and picture my father there is beyond words. When Capt. Baum shouted, "Every man for himself," my father hid with three other men and were able to evade the Germans and travel back the 60 miles to allied lines, on foot, without maps, stealing whatever they could eat from farmer's barns. It took them 7 days to do that. A picture should be made of one of Patton's biggest mistakes of WWII. What all those men went through was unbelievable and they should be honored.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lock - n- Load; We're going in hot!, March 17, 2004

By 

crustynibs "crustynibs" (The Land of Lincoln) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Raid!: The Untold Story of Patton's Secret Mission (Mass Market Paperback)

Raid! Is a super good true story about the "hair-brained" mission to sent a special task force consisting of 50 vehicles and 280-300 men, with no air support and no additional ground support, 60 miles behind enemy lines to liberate 300 American officers at a German POW camp, inwhich one of the officers is General Patton's son-in-law. Without giving away the story, this book is full of action that will keep you at the edge of yor seat. Once started, it will be hard to put down. This book is right in line with George Wilson's book "If You Survive". Both books are really good and have alot of action at a small price.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Abe Baum and 296 other GIs go behind German lines., January 19, 2004

By 

Kevin M Quigg (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Raid!: The Untold Story of Patton's Secret Mission (Mass Market Paperback)

As some of the previous reviewers have noted, this book reads like a novel. However it is true and 297 GIs were either killed, wounded, or captured due to Patton wanting to free his son in law John Waters from a POW camp behind enemy lines. Patton was a controversial general, and this action was very controversial. Patton basically risked the lives of 297 men in order to save one man who was not in danger of death anyway.
The commander who conducted the raid wrote most of this book, along with two other participants. The writing is good in places, especially where Baum is describing the action. It seems to me the other two authors also wrote sections of this book, and perhaps their writing was not as good as Baum's. The action is a thrill and reads like a novel. Baron's description of the POWs is less interesting and wanders at time.
Altogether a great read about an unbelievable battle of World War II. Highly recommended just for the content.