I have just completed reading Anthony Beevor’s book ‘Arnhem’. Let me say firstly, that this is not a detailed military account of Operation Market Garden; rather it is high level overview of the whole operation, where Beevor dives deep to find examples of the point he is making.My father loathed Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. In addition, he would very rarely ever talk about his wartime glider experiences, especially Arnhem. He fought at Arnhem and eventually escaped by swimming the River Rhi...

An excellent book.This is my second read of Antony Beever, after an equally superb book on the Spanish Civil War, and I have to say, Antony writes with style, wit and passion.The book focuses on Operation Market Garden (you may have seen the star-laden movie from the late 70s), an ambitious attempt to capture the major bridges across eastern Netherlands, all the way to Arnhem, and thus allow passage over the Rhine into Germany. Indeed, ambitious, because it did not work out, and Arnhem was only

A return to form from Mr Beevor.Antony Beevor's latest book covers the Arnhem campaign. He starts, as so many others do, at the planning stage, proceeds to the military operations and the eventual unraveling of allied strategy.The difference between this book and previous books on Arnhem is the slowly shifting focus from the military, with its heroes (Sosobowski, Frost) and its villains (Montgomery, Browning and Thomas) to the civilian. The ultimate heroes and victims of this book, with a narrat...

Market-Garden, A Bridge too Far call it what you will, it is one of the battles that gets a great deal of coverage on the printed page (for European Battles maybe second only to the Battle of the Bulge). Books on this particular Operation tend to focus on certain aspects of it. Generally the Airborne components, and the delays that were caused to the land forces. Mostly the run up to the battles is treated either quickly or almost as an afterthought sprinkled throughout the action to show what e...

I am both puzzled and fascinated with operation Market Garden. This has to be the worst plan by the Allies in the war and the Beeves blows the lid off it. What a terrible plan. What was Monty thinking? Was he the Manchurian General? He couldn’t fight in the desert. He couldn’t fight in France. Why not let this imbecile concoct a scheme to kill off the finest airborne troops in the free world in the Netherlands (not to mention those poor Dutch civilians that suffered at the hands of the retributi...

This is just one small episode during WW2, that basically has been almost romanticised over, a defeat for the British along the same scale as the evacuation from Dunkirk. The British can uncannily turn a military loss into something to be proud of, and always have done. However, if we are familiar with Operation Market Garden (I believe most people would have heard of the most tragic tale of lightly armed British Airborne troops parachuting into a veritable hornets nest of resting and recuperati...

Although there have been many books written about Operation Market Garden, I hadn’t personally read any before, so when I heard that Anthony Beevor was bringing out a book about the Arnhem battle, I thought “This is bound to be good”, and it is good of course, although best as a narrative.One thing I would say is that much of the earlier part of the book feels like a follow-on from Beevor’s earlier book about the Normandy battle. I haven’t read that and I was left with the feeling it would have

It has been asserted that the British are fondest of commemorating the battles they lost, and that explains the fascination with Arnhem, the famous attempt at ‘a bridge too far’. After reading Anthony Beevor’s thorough account, I daresay I differ. Extraordinary gallantry against impossible odds, whether at Thermopylae, Isandlwana, or Arnhem, cannot be regarded as defeat. It is also an encounter that is almost unique. It involved the Parachute Regiment and the Brigade of Guards, each elite but in...

A brilliant new history of one of the epic tragedies of the Second World War. As the author states what tempted him to write another history of this well known battle was access to a lot of new materials.Fans of Beevor’s previous works on Stalingrad, Berlin and D Day will not be disappointed but will perhaps feel the frustration and disappointment in the Generals and the planning of this disaster in the making.At one point Beevor writes something like that many of us have pointed out issues and

Yep 5 stars. Arnhem and Operation Market-Garden has been a passion of mine for years. So when another book came out I actually said that I wondered if new information could be brought to the table. What a mistake. Beevor has done a brilliant job of covering the campaign from both the operational and tactical level. The book is very readable without having to descent into a sensationalised journalistic piece. Additionally he highlighted the impact on the individuals involved in the fighting regar...

With Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944, Mr. Beevor has once again delivered a well-researched and balanced account of a major World War II event. The author tells the story of “A Bridge Too Far”, to borrow the title of Cornelius Ryan classic on the same battle, from the Dutch, German and Allied perspective. The author tells the tale of the Battle for all levels of command – from Montgomery’s HQ down the paratroopers trying capture and hold the major bridges.He tells the story of the battl...

So, a bit of a Damascene moment, provoked by a bit of reflection on other texts (including a passing comment in Peter Caddick-Adams's Snow and Steel) and appropriately enough, sitting rewatching A Bridge Too Far (Gene Hackman's 'What of the Ghermans?' moment, oddly enough).All of which prompted the sudden realisation that I actually had read it all before... there's actually next to nothing that's not come around in A Bridge Too Far, or Kershaw's It Never Snows in September: The German View of M...

Whoever claims Beevor turns a blind eye to British mistakes hasn't seen him take down the entire script for Arnhem and the slow advance of Horrocks in particular. No plan survives the contact with the enemy Sosabowski, who'd rather have spent that summer in Warsaw, was right when he pointed out that no allowance was made for anything to go wrong, and from the remote designation of LZ's onward it did. The first 100 pages of so are an enjoyable exposé of the opposing plans; this is where I found m...

I really enjoyed 'Stalingrad' as well as a few of Antony Beevor's other History classics. I had an extra level of fascination for this book, since my mother is Dutch, I was born in Eindhoven, and spent a lot of my childhood in the exact area that 'Operation Market Garden' (couldn't they have come up with a more exciting name for this Paratrooper mission?) happened in; Osterbeek, Arnhem, Nijmegen and EDE. It's amazing that not so long ago, a huge battle waged in this quiet area. My favourite part...

It has been immensely interesting to read this book and walk the locations at Oosterbeek, Arnhem and Nijmegen. Other locations in the locality of which I had no idea of their importants come to life; the ferry at Pannerden and castle Slangenburg fore one. Walking the dog at the ‘Duiveslberg’ (at Berg and Dal) and reading about it being the frontline that same evening makes the story all the more gripping. A lot has been said about Anthony Beevor’s ‘Arnhem’ and I have not much to add to the other...

A clear, compelling, and well-researched history of the battle from all sides, thoroughly covering both Market Garden and Arnhem’s liberation in April 1945.Beevor does a great job ramming home the suffering of Dutch civilians and the atrocities committed by the Wehrmacht, the SS, and their Dutch accomplices. He also covers how the operation (“doomed from the start”) was hampered by bad planning, bad coordination, communications problems, and Montgomery’s ego (and Eisenhower’s willingness to soot...

It comes as no surprise that Antony Beevor has written a great book again. A highly detailed account of the ill fated Operation Market Garden bringing to life the desperate struggle for the bridges. The author manages to give new insights to the various decisions and stages of the battle. Besides the gripping tale of the military operations the author doesn't fail to look into the human aspect of the battle. The little personal stories of combatants and civilians alike give a whole different dim...

Knighted in 2017, the much-honoured Antony Beevor is indeed the greatest historian of our age. Rather than riding on his laurels and writing opinion pieces, Beevor continues to work intensely in the archives. Given that he is now over 70, one wonders how long he can continue such an intense regime of work. I am giving "The Battle of Arnhem" a mere four-star rating primarily to acknowledge that it is still not on the same level of either of his two masterpieces "Stalingrad" and "The Fall of Berli...

A highly readable account of the Allied attack on the bridges at Arnhem, in Holland by British 1st Airborne and the American 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions during September 1944. Operation Market Garden, (it was actually two operations - one named Market and the other Garden) was the plan to end the war quickly by capturing the bridges leading to the Lower Rhine and beyond.Long after the event, Field Marshal Montgomery's own biographer described the operation "foolhardy" and, prior to the att...