Customer Reviews

The Road to Arnhem: A Screaming Eagle in Holland (World War II Library)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was a moving first person account of Operation Market Garden. I thought this book was as good an account of war as I've ever read. The author, Donald Burgett, isn't the most polished writer but this only adds to the personal feel. It's like having your grandfather or an old friend sitting around and reminiscing about his days in the war. Mr Burgett writes in a no-nonsense tone getting straight to the point. He writes matter of factly about seeing another soldier shot in the head or capturing a pig for dinner. In all of the narrative you can see that the author has lived this.

As with most books of this type there are many humorous incidents. Two of my favorites were the soldier who dodged enemy machine gun fire to retrieve jam for his comrades and Slick, who after running out of hand grenades, used some incredible ingenuity to escape from a firefight. This story is a mix of heroism and hilarious at the same time.

One thing that had an impact on me was Donald Burgett's description of himself. The fact that he was just a nineteen year old boy who weighed 140 lbs really brings home the fact that these men were just normal people not larger than life John Wayne figures.

This book went fast and was very much worth the price. As cliched as it sounds books like this should be mandatory to read in school so these brave men will be remembered for their sacrifices.

Donald Burgett's "The Road to Arnhem" is a gripping look into the lives of paratroopers involved in arguably the greatest feat of arms ever attempted by airborne troops - the Market portion of Operation Market-Garden.

For those who might not already know the basic story of Operation Market-Garden, it was the brainchild of commander 21st Army Group, British Field Marshal Bernard ('Monty') Montgomery. Monty conceived of Market-Garden as a war-winning 'knife-like' stab (to borrow terms from Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower) into the heart of Germany. By using a combined airborne and armored-infantry attack through Holland as an end run to the North around the main defenses of the West Wall (aka, Seigfreid Line to the Allies) to the Rhine at the Dutch-German border city of Arnhem, Monty hoped to cross the Rhine and push on to the Ruhr - the industrial heart of the Reich, and possibly straight on to Berlin. The airborne portion of the Operation, code named Market, was to lay a carpet of men from the start point on the Belgian-Dutch border to Arnhem, capturing all the necessary bridges spanning the various rivers and cannals along the single major highway running through this region of Holland and securing the flanks such that the Garden portion of the operation could be put into affect. Garden represented the armored-infantry portion of the operation, a thrust up this single highway by British XXX Corps to and across the Rhine at Arnhem. Operation Market-Garden was extremely bold and imaginative but suffered considerably from the standpoint of tactical and logistical options, relying exclusively on a single route from Belgium to the Reich, and near perfect timing of all portions of the operation. While Monty later claimed 'ninety percent success' for Market-Garden, it was a clear tactical and strategic failure that contributed significantly, if not directly, to attrition warfare of the fall-winter '44-45 the Allies were to endure. Considerable human and material wastage occurred as a result of Operation Market-Garden for essentially no tactical or strategic gain. "The Road to Arnhem" is one mans take on this Operation and its impact on those taking part in it.

Burgett doesn't hold back in his descriptions of his daily travails as an airborne trooper. This is not a book for the faint of heart wishing to have war completely sanitized. Rather the reader sees all the warts, brutality and heartbreak of war. If not a great writer, Burgett is in fact a solid storyteller who sucks in the reader to be part of the 'band of brothers' to which he belonged. Fortunately for the reader Burgett not only tells a story of this portion of the war as he saw it, but places this firmly within the context of greater Market-Garden Operation as a whole. In doing so Burgett gives the reader the broader picture of war since the experiences of a single trooper is but a tiny portion of the whole, often limited in space to hundred of yards to a few miles over the entire period of a 1-2 week-long operation. Many readers familiar with Market-Garden will also get the bonus of reading about 101st operations post achievement of their goals but within the temporal window of the Operation on the whole. Upon reading most accounts of Market-Garden readers might tend to think that the paratroopers only captured bridges and waited for XXX Corps. In fact they were in action throughout the month of September '44, although not always on Hell's Highway.

"The Road to Arnhem" is a 4.5 star read worthy of praise and wider readership.

I rated this book with five stars only because that's the most I was allowed. But I feel that all of Burgett's literature deserves at least ten stars. He paints a picture that no movie director can capture. The horrors and atrocities of war can clearly be seen, as you look through the eyes of Burgett as he views the war. It is masterfully written and you will be unable to put it down as "Operation Market Garden" takes place, and will understand the legendary nickname "a bridge too far". The book is a great and complete story of how one man tries to survive the madness of a great but awful war.

First of all...since this book is so cheap and fills in the gap between two of the best WWII books out there (currahee and 7 roads) it is on my must read list...and with its length it is an easy 2 day read. But I must admit I was just a little bit disappointed...maybe because of Burgett's other two books I became an action junky, but this book seemed to never get going. He does give wonderful insight into the market garden operation and his writing, as usual, is easy flowing and descriptive. But his unit doesn't seem to run into alot of trouble, and if they did it wasn't portrayed in the fashion of his normandy and bastogne experience. Please don't think I am criticizing one of our nations heroes and one of my personal favorites, but I imagined the holland fight to be a bit hairier and those looking for a WWII memoir are probably looking for the same thing.

a great read however and for the price and length a must buy...

This book gives a very forthright account of one of the biggest debacles in WWII. Burgett moves on from Normandy down the road to Arnhem and continues to provide awing details of a paratrooper's life in WWII. What I like most about this book, as well as other Burgett books, he gives credit to all soldiers. At the end, this book highlights the courage of the British soldiers who were literally slaughtered by the Germans, but refused to surrender until ordered to do so (similar to the Screaming Eagles in Bastone).

In 1967, Donald Burgett wrote "Currahee!" This told of his training as a paratrooper, assignment to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and the night drop into Normandy some hours ahead of the June 6, 1944 invasion. In "Seven Roads to Hell" (1999) he tells the story of the defense of the surrounded Belgium town of Bastogne.

In this, his third book, he picks up the events that occurred at about the midpoint, in time, between the first two. In September of 1944 the 506th is part of the First Allied Airborne Army that is intended to invade Holland and capture the main road leading to the Bridge at Arnhem across the Neder Rijn (Lower Rhine). Once all of the river and cannal bridges are secure the British XXX Corps was to race north, cross the Arnhem bridge and turn east into Germany toward Berlin. Like many plans of war it didn't happen that way.

While providing a personal account of the actions that took place involving him and his unit, the author is becoming more of a historian. He has started adding a broader picture of events than just what he himself could see. His narative flows free and naturally in a conversational style that is not only easy to follow but is very entertaining. In other words, he is a good story teller.

A very good book to expand on Operation Market Garden from the point where A Bridge Too Far ends with the withdrawal of the British Airborne from Arnhem. Burgett does an excellent job of detailing what the soliders, particularly the 101st, did in Holland after the Operation failed to accomplish its primary objective. Would strongly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the campaign in Holland.

Attempting to end run the Siegfried Line, Montgomery conceived an airborne drop in Holland to seize a 50 miles strip of Holland highway, including military positions, towns and bridges from Eindhoven to Arnhem. Within three days, the British XXX Corps was to roll to Arnhem and into Germany. The total length of the supply line was 100 miles long. The author, a member of the 506 of the 101st, describes the resulting engagements and failure through bitter eyes. In Burgett's opinion, under Montgomery's command, multiple blunders and poor planing, the 101st and the 82nd Divisions were all but decimated. In the British 1st Airborne Div. and the Polish 1st Brigade, of a total of 10, 005 men, less than 2,500 remained. They were destroyed as fighting units. In spite of the failure, men of the First Allied Airborne Army fought with extreme heroism and Burgett describes many of their individual acts with compelling realism. We owe Mr. Burgett much more than our thanks.

Nobody but a combat soldier can answer the question: "What was it like?" For those of us who have never experienced battle we can only try to imagine it. Mr. Burgett urges us to hunker down into his foxhole as the carnage of noman's land drops onto our laps like a screaming mortar shell. His unbelievable experiences make for a series of WWII memoirs unsurpassed in their vivid telling. I have read all four of his books-in chronological order-and I cannot imagine a more genuine and descriptive account of a trooper's brutal experiences in the European theater of WWII. I wish I could meet the man to shake his hand. His dedication and sense of honor and sacrifice make me proud to be an American, and very grateful indeed for having known of such combat men as Donald R. Burgett.

I have read all of Donald R. Birgett's books. I first read 'Currahee' in Junior High School back in 1968. After graduating from High School in 1974, I joined the army with the signal minded intent to become a Screaming Eagle. Well, by that time the 101st was an Air assault unit. I went to jump school at Fort Bragg and then to infantry school at Benning. I spent 6 years in the Army Reserves. I have several copies of the book 'Currahee' and have read the book numerous times. When Burgett's other books came out I had to read them.

'The Road To Arnhem' once again brings the personal account of a 19 year old paratrooper in the most horrific war the world has ever experienced. His style of writing, reminds me of the times I sat with my grandfather and listened to him speak of the war. I salute Donald R Burgett and all of the Screaming Eagles who fought that war and especially to those that paid the ultimate price. Burgett should be proud of his literary achievements and his place in history. He is truly a member of 'The Greatest Generation'. God Bless you Donald Burgett and God Bless America.