Arnhem

THE SUNDAY TIMES #1 BESTSELLER The great airborne battle for the bridges in 1944 by Britain's Number One bestselling historian and author of the classic Stalingrad ' Our greatest chronicler of the Second World War ' - Robert Fox, Evening Standard ______________ On 17 September 1944, General Kurt Student, the founder of Nazi Germany's parachute forces, heard the growing roar of aeroplane engines. He went out on to his balcony above the flat landscape of southern Holland to watch the air armada of Dakotas and gliders carrying the British 1st Airborne and the American 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions. He gazed up in envy at this massive demonstration of paratroop power. Operation Market Garden, the plan to end the war by capturing the bridges leading to the Lower Rhine and beyond, was a bold concept: the Americans thought it unusually bold for Field Marshal Montgomery. But could it ever have worked? The cost of failure was horrendous, above all for the Dutch, who risked everything to help. German reprisals were pitiless and cruel, and lasted until the end of the war. The British fascination with heroic failure has clouded the story of Arnhem in myths. Antony Beevor, using often overlooked sources from Dutch, British, American, Polish and German archives, has reconstructed the terrible reality of the fighting, which General Student himself called 'The Last German Victory'. Yet this book, written in Beevor's inimitable and gripping narrative style, is about much more than a single, dramatic battle. It looks into the very heart of war. ______________ ' In Beevor's hands, Arnhem becomes a study of national character ' - Ben Macintyre, The Times ' Superb book, tirelessly researched and beautifully written ' - Saul David, Daily Telegraph ' Complete mastery of both the story and the sources ' - Keith Lowe, Literary Review

THE SUNDAY TIMES #1 BESTSELLER The great airborne battle for the bridges in 1944 by Britain's Number One bestselling historian and author of the classic Stalingrad ' Our greatest chronicler of the Second World War ' - Robert Fox, Evening Standard ______________ On 17 September 1944, General Kurt Student, the founder of Nazi Germany's parachute forces, heard the growing roar of aeroplane engines. He went out on to his balcony above the flat landscape of southern Holland to watch the air armada of Dakotas and gliders carrying the British 1st Airborne and the American 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions. He gazed up in envy at this massive demonstration of paratroop power. Operation Market Garden, the plan to end the war by capturing the bridges leading to the Lower Rhine and beyond, was a bold concept: the Americans thought it unusually bold for Field Marshal Montgomery. But could it ever have worked? The cost of failure was horrendous, above all for the Dutch, who risked everything to help. German reprisals were pitiless and cruel, and lasted until the end of the war. The British fascination with heroic failure has clouded the story of Arnhem in myths. Antony Beevor, using often overlooked sources from Dutch, British, American, Polish and German archives, has reconstructed the terrible reality of the fighting, which General Student himself called 'The Last German Victory'. Yet this book, written in Beevor's inimitable and gripping narrative style, is about much more than a single, dramatic battle. It looks into the very heart of war. ______________ ' In Beevor's hands, Arnhem becomes a study of national character ' - Ben Macintyre, The Times ' Superb book, tirelessly researched and beautifully written ' - Saul David, Daily Telegraph ' Complete mastery of both the story and the sources ' - Keith Lowe, Literary Review

The incredible true story behind the most catastrophic 24-hours the British military faced in World War II from the bestselling author. ‘Utterly brilliant... this book really is the last word on the Battle of Arnhem’ James Holland, bestselling author of The Savage Storm ’Superb... A military historian of originality and insight to compare with the best’ Saul David, historian and bestselling author of Sky Warriors _________ The Battle of Arnhem is one of the best-known stories in British military history: a daring but doomed attempt to secure a vital bridgehead across the Rhine in order to end the war before Christmas 1944. It is always written about, with the benefit of unerring 20/20 hindsight, as being destined to fail, but the men who fought there, men of military legend, didn't know that that was to be their fate. Now, in Arnhem: Black Tuesday , Al Murray focuses on the events of one day as they happened through the eyes of the British participants, without bringing any knowledge of what would happen tomorrow to bear, offering a very different perspective on a familiar narrative. Some things went right and a great many more went wrong, but recounting them in this way allows the reader to understand for the first time how certain decisions were taken in the moment and how opportunities were squandered. Al Murray has always been obsessed by this legendary battle, and in Arnhem: Black Tuesday he showcases all of his knowledge, interpretation and enthusiasm to bear to tell the story of one of history’s great heroic failures differently for the first time. _________ ‘Original and insightful’ Telegraph 'A revelation.. This is Arnhem unplugged. By confining himself to men in and around Arnhem on that Tuesday, Murray achieves something special' The Times

Discover the Sunday Times bestseller and incredible true story behind the most catastrophic 24-hours the British military faced in World War II from the bestselling author. 'Utterly brilliant... this book really is the last word on the Battle of Arnhem' James Holland 'Superb... A military historian of originality and insight to compare with the best' Saul David _________ The Battle of Arnhem is one of the best-known stories in British military history: a daring but doomed attempt to secure a vital bridgehead across the Rhine in order to end the war before Christmas 1944. It is always written about, with the benefit of unerring 20/20 hindsight, as being destined to fail, but the men who fought there, men of military legend, didn't know that that was to be their fate. Now, in Arnhem: Black Tuesday, Al Murray focuses on the events of one day as they happened through the eyes of the British participants, without bringing any knowledge of what would happen tomorrow to bear, offering a very different perspective on a familiar narrative. Some things went right and a great many more went wrong, but recounting them in this way allows the reader to understand for the first time how certain decisions were taken in the moment and how opportunities were squandered. Al Murray has always been obsessed by this legendary battle, and in Arnhem: Black Tuesday he showcases all of his knowledge, interpretation and enthusiasm to bear to tell the story of one of history's great heroic failures differently for the first time. _________ Praise for Arnhem: Black Tuesday: 'Original and insightful' Telegraph 'A revelation.. This is Arnhem unplugged. By confining himself to men in and around Arnhem on that Tuesday, Murray achieves something special' The Times