A BRIDGE TOO FAR

by Cornelius Ryan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1974

Ryan masters a spare, strong style to deliver a battle that has much of the majesty and beauty of classic tragedy. This is the story of the greatest air operation ever undertaken, its terrific success in the air, its final failure on the ground. Operation Market-Garden was the code name for a British plan devised by Field Marshal Montgomery for a gigantic airlift into Germany that would quickly end the war. The point was to capture five bridges along a 60-mile highway through Holland straight to Arnhem in Germany; to hold the highway with ground troops so that Allied tanks could run like hell to secure Arnhem and to do it all in a lightning-stroke drop of airborne troops. The most important bridge was the fifth at Arnhem, spanning 400 yards of the Rhine. Its north end was taken by the British First Airborne Division, which expected to hold it for four days until reinforcements arrived; they held on for nine in a bloodbath that left few alive when the final retreat came -- and the bridge was lost. Ryan (The Longest Day) achieves spellbinding effects, especially when the endless armada fills the thundering skies, wings tip to tip from horizon to horizon; he shapes his days out of fire and blood and heartbreak; his irony about leaders such as Ike and Montgomery is mighty -- the Allied cost was twice as many casualties as D-Day. Market-Garden failed colossally. Ryan's method of personal interviews with bigwigs, foot soldiers and civilians deepens his work's artful authenticity.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1974

Categories: NONFICTION