After storming the beaches on D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allied invasion of France bogged down in seven weeks of grueling attrition in Normandy. On July 25, U.S. divisions under Gen. Omar Bradley launched Operation Cobra, an attempt to break out of the hedgerows and begin a war of movement across France. Despite a disastrous start, with misdropped bombs killing hundreds of GIs, Cobra proved to be one of the most pivotal battles of World War II, successfully breaking the stalemate in Normandy and clearing a path into occupied France.
During World War II, the two pre-eminent mechanized infantry forces of the conflict, the German Panzergrenadier arm and the US Army's armoured infantrymen, clashed in France and Belgium after the Normandy landings. These engagements went on to profoundly influence the use of mechanized infantry in the post-war world. Drawing upon a variety of sources, this book focuses on three key encounters between July and December 1944 including during Operation Cobra and the Battle of the Bulge, and examines the origins, equipment, doctrine and combat record of both forces. With specially commissioned full-colour artwork and maps, this study sheds light on the evolving nature of mechanized warfare at the height of World War II.
When the United States entered World War II, it took more than industrial might to transform its tiny army—smaller than even Portugal's—into an overseas fighting force of more than eight and a half million. Peter Schifferle contends that the determination of American army officers to be prepared for the next big war was an essential component in America's ultimate triumph over its adversaries. Crucial to that preparation were the army schools at Fort Leavenworth. Interwar Army officers, haunted by the bloodshed of World War I's Meuse-Argonne Offensive, fully expected to return to Europe to conclude the "unfinished business" of that conflict, and they prepared well. Schifferle examines for the first time precisely how they accomplished this through a close and illuminating look at the students, faculty, curriculum, and essential methods of instruction at Fort Leavenworth. He describes how the interwar officer corps there translated the experiences of World War I into effective doctrine, engaged in intellectual debate on professional issues, conducted experiments to determine the viability of new concepts, and used military professional education courses to substitute for the experience of commanding properly organized and resourced units. Schifferle highlights essential elements of war preparation that only the Fort Leavenworth education could provide, including intensive instruction in general staff procedures, hands-on experience with the principles and techniques of combined arms, and the handling of large division-sized formations in combat. This readied army officers for an emerging new era of global warfare and enabled them to develop the leadership decision making they would need to be successful on the battlefield. But Schifferle offers more than a recitation of curriculum development through the skillful interweaving of personal stories about both school experiences and combat operations, collectively recounting the human and professional development of the officer corps from 1918 to 1945. Well crafted and insightful, Schifferle's meticulously researched study shows how and why the Fort Leavenworth experience was instrumental in producing that impressive contingent of military officers who led the U.S. Army to final victory in World War II. By the end of the book, the attentive reader will also fully comprehend why the military professionals at Fort Leavenworth have come to think of it as the "Intellectual Center of the Army."
Jointly published by Plunkett Lake Press and Indiana University Press This study of the American-led campaign in Europe in World War II analyzes command decisions at both the strategic and tactical levels. All the complex ingredients of armies at war — the burdens of history, the impact of technology, the roles of personalities, the confusions of the battlefield — are presented based on extensive scholarship. Field Marshal Montgomery and Ike's lieutenants, Generals Omar N. Bradley, Jacob L. Devers, Courtney H. Hodges, George S. Patton, Jr., Alexander M. Patch, William H. Simpson, Leonard T. Gerow, J. Lawton Collins, and Matthew B. Ridgway, and others appear in the book. All major strategic and tactical decisions in the battles of the American offensive against Nazi Germany are covered, with descriptions of key terrain features and many personal insights drawn from various diaries. The book provides an assessment of the leadership and fighting capabilities of the Allied forces in the key European battles of World War II. “The publication of Eisenhower’s Lieutenants is an event of significance in American military writing... admirable... clearly the product of exhaustive, painstaking research.” — Drew Middleton, The New York Times “Eisenhower’s Lieutenants is an outstanding and highly recommended work. It offers the wealth of information, superb research and presentation, comprehensive treatment, and challenging reinterpretation one has come to expect from Weigley. It also points out once again that his reputation as one of our outstanding military historians is well deserved.” — Mark A. Stoler, Journal of American History “... outstanding book... highly professional study of command and operations in northwest Europe, 1944-45... the best account we have of the World War II campaigns from Normandy to the Elbe.” — Forrest C. Pogue, American Historical Review “The fullest account yet of the climactic campaign in northwestern Europe, from the planning of D-Day through the German surrender, with an interesting focus on the personalities involved in shaping the Allied forces, plans, and operations... precisely informative and broadly rewarding.” — Kirkus Reviews “... an excellent book.” — Calvin B. Peters, Journal of Political and Military Sociology “... by the dean of American military historians...” — Washington Post “I had thought I knew everything about World War II that I would ever want to know. I was wrong. Reading Eisenhower’s Lieutenants was a wonderfully enriching experience. I learned more than I ever would have thought possible. This will unquestionably become one of the great classics of American military history.” —Stephen E. Ambrose
