PDF The Bitter Woods: The Battle of the Bulge by John S. D. Eisenhower in History

Review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. The German Breakthrough Which Broke the German ResistanceBy drkhimxzGeneral John Eisenhower (son of President/General Dwight David...) did a fine job nearly half a century ago; in providing detailed examination of the German attack through the Ardennes; the last convulsive effort by Hitler to splinter the British-American-Russian alliance; and thus salvage victory in the face of the massive onslaught from the West and Northeast. Whether later documentary revelations or memoirs have altered the picture to a Great extent seems doubtful; although details might well have altered contemporary judgment in the year 2015 in which I write. While it is written for the layman; it would appear; more accessible to the professional or the active war game-player since; quite legitimately; it focuses on the details of unit alignments and interactions which is a bit wearying for those without the background to handle it. Despite my limitations in this respect; I found the book fascinating and simply accepted that I would not; at this stage of the game; retain the minutiae; hopefully; the key points will settle into my mind; since his judgments about strategy; the interaction of military leaders; the interaction of the political and the military; and the nature of the attack and resistance; among other points; are still important for a citizen of any of the involved nations to understand. He had a number of strengths to offer the reader which are not to be found in the works of most other excellent analysts of these events. He did have a degree of intimate conduct with a number of the American and English leaders not to be found among most; he writes as one processed through the American military training program and an observer at a high level of command; his pedigree made available to him an interaction with American and German sources who might be readier to be candid than with the average military historian; and; as I feel comes through in this and some of the other of his works with which I am familiar; he isa bright guy who seems to know his stuff. My general recommendation is that it is a book accessible to most literate readers but the layman might well be a bit put off by the detail. As at least one reviewer accurately comments; it is light on the lowest; dirtiest level of warfare; although he includes sufficient dramatic illustration as to encourage one to read other ground level books. I found his conclusions on some of the crucial points in debate since the events transcribed here (should we have sought to take Berlin; should Montgomery have been given command of segments of the American troops after the breakthrough was recognized to be a major effort; was it wrong not to have made the public aware that this command restructuring was always intended as a purely temporary expedient;....etc) to be soundly argued although I do not feel competent to judge the degree of their soundness. In general; I was quite involved with the book and came away with the feeling that I now knew more than I did previously about the subject. While I know most of the details will fade from memory; the effort will be rewarded by the residual frame of reference with regard to the events which will be more sophisticated than that I had previously possessed.5 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Should be on the bookshelves of all modern military historians; professional and amatuer alikeBy Mannie LiscumJohn S. D. Eisenhower's "The Bitter Woods: The Dramatic Story; Told At All Echelons - From Supreme Command to Squad Leader - of the Crisis That Shock the Western Coalition: Hilter's Surprise Ardennes Offensive" is a tour-de-force piece of historical literature. As a former WWII junior officer and son of the Supreme Commander; John Eisenhower writes from a solid first (and extremely close second) hand experience as a soldier in the Allied forces that defeated the Axis forces in NW Europe. More than just a former soldier and son of the leader of the armed coalition of victors; Eisenhower emerges with "The Bitter Woods" as a military historian of the first class. Few accounts of the Battle of the Bulge (as Hitler's Ardennes offensive was oft referred in Allied press accounts and writings since) are as thoroughly researched and broad reaching.Eisenhower starts his book by providing short; but informative; biographies of the top commanders on the Allied and German sides (unnumbered pages in the 1995 DaCapo Press paperback version reviewed here); followed by an insightful Forward (pp. 17-23) in which he describes the genesis of the book and his views on how "The Bitter Woods" might fit into the literature dedicated to the Bulge. Even if one does not read "The Bitter Woods" in its entirety the Forward alone is worth a look for budding historians and historical authors as a potential guide to understanding ones own work and its worth.While Eisenhower does not cover in detail the German side of the equation that led to this greatest of American armed conflicts; he is mindful to place the conflict in perspective; both from the Allied and German sides. In fact; 'Book I' of "The Bitter Woods" (pp. 27-102) covers the event leading up to the Ardennes conflict; minus the actual pre-attack preparations (covered in 'Book II'; see below). He deals with strategic and tactical errors made prior to the battle on both Allied and German sides; and sets the stage for the rest of the book; which represents a detailed accounting of the action from grunt to Ike's command.In 'Book II' (pp. 105-176) Eisenhower details how the Germans prepared for their Ardennes Counteroffensive; and how the Allies missed their chance to snuff the attack before it started. While much of the discussion on the German side remains as valid today as it was when Eisenhower first penned "The Bitter Woods" in the late '60s; his analysis of Allied blunders might be considered by some to be less thorough. It is fair to point out to readers that when Eisenhower wrote "The Bitter Woods"; Ultra; the Allied deciphering of German coded communications; was still a Western secret and no historian was yet privy to all of the INTEL that the Allies had at the time of the Ardennes Counteroffensive. In this regard if Eisenhower does miss the mark a bit it is not from a failure on his part in researching or writing the book; but rather from the time in which the book was written; relative to what exactly was available in terms of Allied intel reports. Having said all this it is still arguable that even with Ultra intel the Allies still could not have effectively divined Hitler's intentions (while not the overt intention of the book; "The Ghost Front" by Charles Whiting effectively demonstrates this latter thesis); especially given the Allied mindset that the war was effectively over and the Germans were incapable of mounting a serious offensive; along with the fact that the Germans quite effectively limited use of radio and wire messages during the lead up to D-day (16 December 1944). Thus; in the end despite having a less than complete Allied intel picture; Eisenhower's analyses of Allied blunders are still on fairly solid ground.In 'Books III (pp. 179-257) and IV (pp. 261-375)'; Eisenhower gives his prose to a discussion of the bulk of the battle (16-26 Dec). In particular; Eisenhower presents a lucid and moving; not to mention highly readable; account of the initial attack and breakthroughs the Germans achieved in critical sectors of the US V and VIII Corps sectors and the brave stands of pockets of US forces in stemming these initial breakthroughs. Robert Merriam ("Dark December"); John Toland ("Battle of the Bulge") and Charles MacDonald ("A Time for Trumpets") have also done these events justice with their historical writings. When Eisenhower's accounts are added into this mix one gets a quite full account.'Book V' covers the US and Allied (Eisenhower gives fair - not too little and not too much - credit to the contributions of Monty's 21st Army Group) final reduction of the German forces west of the Rhine; as well as a chapter entitled 'The Final Analysis'; in which he tries (quite effectively) to place the battle in perspective of the ETO and ultimate defeat of the Axis forces in Europe. Like the 'Forward'; this final chapter alone is worth reading on its own independent of the great material that precedes it.In the end "The Bitter Woods" is a 5 star effort that should be read by ALL interested in the greatest of US Army battles; one that to this day exists in the American conscience.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Learned a lot!By Mark AHaving a dad that fought in this battle; I thought I was a semi expert on this battle. But now halfway through book and have learned a lot about the lead up into this battle. New insights into leaderships. And am not even into the actual battle yet. This book will have a revered place among my other Bulge battle books.