Suggested reads for Bulge / Ardennes??

[captiva]

John Toland's book and MacDonald's book are the best places to start. I would lean toward Toland's first.

"Command Ops 2" is the new name for the old "Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge". They are now owned by Lock and Load Publishing. I highly recommend the game. They are a small company and need all the support they can muster. 

[captiva]

I forgot to mention that the Command Ops 2 core game is free of charge. It comes with 3 scenarios to play. You can then decide which battle packs to purchase. They have the Bulge, Market Garden, Africa etc. I recommend you purchase the Commanders Pack which gives you all of them.

[Big Boss]

I also strongly recommend Christer Bergström´s The Ardennes 1944-1945 Hitler's Winter Offensive. This excellent book, well-written and thoroughly researched is filled with accounts from both sides. Nearly 500 pages that also describes operation Bodenplatte and the often (from American accounts) ignored all important January battles.

[Badger73]

Consider for CMFB in general;

Against the Panzers
by Allyn R Vannoy & Jay Karamales
ISBN 0-7864-2612-8

United States Infantry versus German Tanks, 1944-1945
A History of eight battles told through diaries, unit histories, and interviews
- Mortain, August '44
- Metz, September '44
- November, December, January '44-'45

Preview at URL = https://books.google.com/books?id=eCwrBwAAQBAJ&pg=PR4&lpg=PR4&dq=Against+the+Panzers+by+Allyn+R+Vannoy+%26+Jay+Karamales&source=bl&ots=VRlqfYZVc0&sig=s1-YXi64aJvBjJPnZWNaSp6gulw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjFwt-MtvLJAhXIaz4KHZpTA5YQ6AEIMjAD#v=onepage&q=Against the Panzers by Allyn R Vannoy %26 Jay Karamales&f=false

Available at Amazon or a decent USA public library.

[grunt_GI]

I figured Roland Gaul´s books about the battles at the bulges southern shoulder have some fine details, particularly for mission makers I think:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Battle-Bulge-Luxembourg-Vol/dp/0887407463

Not to forget some the free sources, which have lots about the Bulge and units involved.

http://www.benning.army.mil/library/content/Virtual/Armorpapers/index.htm

http://www.benning.army.mil/library/content/Virtual/Donovanpapers/wwii/index.htm

http://www.sturmpanzer.com/Default.aspx?tabindex=5&tabid=613&item=1&sec=3

 

That was a great find...lots of material on the Benning site.... 

 

[grunt_GI]

You could also try:

'The Ardennes 1944-1945 Hitler's Winter Offensive' by Christer Bergstrom.

Originally published in Sweden, the English edition was published by Casemate in 2014.

A big and beautifully produced book of nearly 500 pages.

Lots of maps and excellent photos, it goes into huge detail with many first person accounts as well as the strategic overview and is pretty balanced between the two sides.

Thanks for the recommendation...hadn't looked into that book...it's in the Amazon cart now.

[Bud Backer]

Consider for CMFB in general;

Against the Panzers
by Allyn R Vannoy & Jay Karamales
ISBN 0-7864-2612-8

United States Infantry versus German Tanks, 1944-1945
A History of eight battles told through diaries, unit histories, and interviews
- Mortain, August '44
- Metz, September '44
- November, December, January '44-'45

Preview at URL = https://books.google.com/books?id=eCwrBwAAQBAJ&pg=PR4&lpg=PR4&dq=Against+the+Panzers+by+Allyn+R+Vannoy+%26+Jay+Karamales&source=bl&ots=VRlqfYZVc0&sig=s1-YXi64aJvBjJPnZWNaSp6gulw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjFwt-MtvLJAhXIaz4KHZpTA5YQ6AEIMjAD#v=onepage&q=Against the Panzers by Allyn R Vannoy %26 Jay Karamales&f=false

Available at Amazon or a decent USA public library.

Thanks for this recommendation, I've just purchased it from iBooks. Looks interesting.

 

[Bozowans]

If anyone wants a personal account of the battle, I recommend this:

Inside the Battle of the Bulge: A Private Comes of Age by Roscoe C. Blunt Jr.

http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Battle-Bulge-Private-Comes/dp/0275945456

 

It's a pretty violent book filled with a lot of front line combat, written by a US infantryman. He got himself into some really nasty fighting (including hand to hand), against infantry and tanks, and almost got himself killed many, many times. He was also part of the same division my own grandfather was in during the battle (84th Railsplitters) so I'm fascinated by it. The author spoke German as well, which led to some interesting situations the common soldier wouldn't have experienced.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone who plays these games. It has some nice, detailed, hand-drawn maps of a few different towns where the fighting was. It makes me want to get into CM scenario design so I could recreate these.

[Warts 'n' all]

I recently tried reading Antony Beevor´s "Ardennens 1944" - but got stuck in the snow. I've really enjoyed many of his earlier books on WWII, but this one isn't up to par, in my view.

In my opinion the main problem of the book was the lack of good overview maps. There are a lot of different locations that you as a reader have to keep track of - unless you're very familiar the geography of the Ardennes. There are perhaps 15 maps in the book, but I spent a lot of time paging from one map to the other - trying to locate Trois Ponts, Houffalize or whatever.

In the end, I got so confused and frustrated I gave it up.

 

I got this book for Christmas and am getting through it fairly quickly. That might not be an indication of it's quality, it could just be an indication of the amount of alcohol in my system over the festive period. Once I finish it I'll certainly be dusting off Charles MacDonald's "Definitive Account", which I haven't read in well over 20 years.

[grunt_GI]

Got this for my birthday this year...absolutely magnificent book recommended by others in this thread. Just the front and end paper maps alone are the best I have ever seen.

Superbly illustrated with many pictures I have never seen before..with many if them in excellent photo essays and the appendices contain highly detailed OBs (ORBATS) (TO&E)  and fantastic endplate sideviews of  most of the armored vehicles that participated in the battle.

It is a tad pricey, but I was able to get one from a used book dealer for about $30 that was in Like New condition.  Even if you're read MacDonald or Beevor this is still an awesome book.

 

[mjkerner]

Excellent recommendation, grunt, thanks!  I just ordered the hardcover version for $45 from Amaozon. I have his Black Cross/Red Star series from my IL 2  Strumovik gaming days, and he is a stickler for detailed research and good maps and pics.

[Myles Keogh]

Got this for my birthday this year...absolutely magnificent book recommended by others in this thread. Just the front and end paper maps alone are the best I have ever seen.

Superbly illustrated with many pictures I have never seen before..with many if them in excellent photo essays and the appendices contain highly detailed OBs (ORBATS) (TO&E)  and fantastic endplate sideviews of  most of the armored vehicles that participated in the battle.

It is a tad pricey, but I was able to get one from a used book dealer for about $30 that was in Like New condition.  Even if you're read MacDonald or Beevor this is still an awesome book.

 

I read this book a year ago.  It does have it strengths- its depth of details, the maps, photos, and illustrations.  However, it does have some issues:

1) It's a translated work- Swedish to English.  Thus, you'll come across a lot of awkwardly worded sentences and phrases.

2) It was published by a small company that didn't have a large editing staff.  Misspellings, factual mistakes, and the aforementioned issues with the translation are too frequent.

3) Bergstrom clearly set-out to be antidote to the Stephen Ambroses of the world.  That's not entirely a bad thing.  Ambrose's WW2 books with their "Greatest Generation" nostalgia are very poor history.  Late in his career, Ambrose appeared to be more interested in building monuments than producing solidly researched historical work.  Thus, it appeared refreshing at first that Bergstrom was definitely not in the thrall of the "Greatest Generation fighting the Great Crusade" storyline.  However, unfortunately, he goes to the opposite extreme of Ambrose.  He seems to go out of his way to cut the American army down-to-size as to its achievements in the Bulge.  He over-emphasizes every American failure and takes every German estimate of heavy casualties inflicted upon their foes at face value.  By the end of the book, I was wondering how the heck the American army even managed to land in Normandy, let alone help win the war. 

Bergstrom's work definitely has its value, but it's not particularly balanced and the poor editing/translation lessen its merits.

[JSj]

Myles, thank you for that information. I was just going to ask the people here who have read this book if they had noted any political bias from Bergström. I have been staying away from his books for this very reason. His political views are extremely left leaning, and he is clearly strongly anti-U.S. (and also anti-Israeli, he is constantly spreading all kinds of garbage about Israeli atrocities against civilians on his Facebook page).

It seems that my suspicions were correct. It doesn't matter how good research you are doing if you let your analysis of the data be affected by your political views.

Edited January 3, 2016 by JSj

[jtsjc1]

The Ardennes by Hugh Cole is an excellent book. Its a US Army Green Book so its very detailed and somewhat dry reading. Snow And Steel I got last year and its one of the best books on the subject I have a great book. Both of these are very large so they take some time to read.

[Myles Keogh]

If anyone wants a personal account of the battle, I recommend this:

Inside the Battle of the Bulge: A Private Comes of Age by Roscoe C. Blunt Jr.

http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Battle-Bulge-Private-Comes/dp/0275945456

 

It's a pretty violent book filled with a lot of front line combat, written by a US infantryman. He got himself into some really nasty fighting (including hand to hand), against infantry and tanks, and almost got himself killed many, many times. He was also part of the same division my own grandfather was in during the battle (84th Railsplitters) so I'm fascinated by it. The author spoke German as well, which led to some interesting situations the common soldier wouldn't have experienced.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone who plays these games. It has some nice, detailed, hand-drawn maps of a few different towns where the fighting was. It makes me want to get into CM scenario design so I could recreate these.

Blunt has come under fire by a few 84th veterans as being a fabricator and a BS artist.  His other book, "Foot Soldier," received some scathing reviews by men claiming to be veterans of the 84th who call into question Blunt's tales of daring-do.

Are these guys just carrying-on a personal grudge?  Or did Blunt's take on old soldier's stories go little too far?

[grunt_GI]

I read this book a year ago.  It does have it strengths- its depth of details, the maps, photos, and illustrations.  However, it does have some issues:

1) It's a translated work- Swedish to English.  Thus, you'll come across a lot of awkwardly worded sentences and phrases.

2) It was published by a small company that didn't have a large editing staff.  Misspellings, factual mistakes, and the aforementioned issues with the translation are too frequent.

3) Bergstrom clearly set-out to be antidote to the Stephen Ambroses of the world.  That's not entirely a bad thing.  Ambrose's WW2 books with their "Greatest Generation" nostalgia are very poor history.  Late in his career, Ambrose appeared to be more interested in building monuments than producing solidly researched historical work.  Thus, it appeared refreshing at first that Bergstrom was definitely not in the thrall of the "Greatest Generation fighting the Great Crusade" storyline.  However, unfortunately, he goes to the opposite extreme of Ambrose.  He seems to go out of his way to cut the American army down-to-size as to its achievements in the Bulge.  He over-emphasizes every American failure and takes every German estimate of heavy casualties inflicted upon their foes at face value.  By the end of the book, I was wondering how the heck the American army even managed to land in Normandy, let alone help win the war. 

Bergstrom's work definitely has its value, but it's not particularly balanced and the poor editing/translation lessen its merits.

Yea, I did pick that up a little bit......just noting his pictures, he clearly thinks the Germans were the better soldiers tactically...but then again, so did Martin van Creveld in his book Fighting Power: German and U.S. Army Performance, 1939-1945...which I also think was MORE than a tad one-sided in his analysis.  I just flipped through it today...so haven't dug in...will see just how biased he is, although he does at least seem to acknowledge the many German atrocities committed during the battle...

[Combatintman]

Osprey do a series of Order of Battle books on the Bulge battles which give great overviews and situation maps suitable for scenario designers. I have used them to put together one of the battles that will get released with the title.

[Big Boss]

It seems that my suspicions were correct. It doesn't matter how good research you are doing if you let your analysis of the data be affected by your political views.

"In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics". George Orwell

Maybe he doesn’t hold pro-American opinions about everything about the battle and he dares to point out things that’s will stir up emotions from many sides.

 Montgomery’s involvement, Patton’s counter offensive, the Russian January offensive, did the Germans race for US fuel supplies? etc.

But he also clearly describes con-German facts about the bad decisions made by Kampfgruppe Peiper, 12^th SS and Sepp Dietrich leading to the KG´s destructions, the siege of Bastong etc.

The best way I think to get a grasp of the battle is to really read a lot, from both sides, and even some sources from neutral countries. This book is just One good book of MANY.

[BletchleyGeek]

Bergström book, as Van Creveld, is an example of the "cult of the Wehrmacht". There is a fair bit of cherry picking - avoiding to dwell on Allied tactical successes which we have seen described in books and war games scenarios one time too many perhaps - and fails appreciate that green outfits, with little cohesion and green officers and NCOs will probably have a hard time succeeding in awful environmental conditions against well entrenched outfits, better led and with recent battle experience, regardless of it being US Army or Wehrmacht. And that the defense, especially with the very refined German techniques, learnt the hard way during 1914-18,  is a force multiplier.

Nevertheless, I think it is a must read, since it gives insight into the German expectations, experience and perspective of the Battle. It also covers in depth the "mop up" of the Bulge, which was in fact a major battle of attrition in crazy weather and ground conditions, whose turning point coincided - not accidentally - with the start of the Red Army Vistula - Oder operation.

A perfect companion / counterbalance to the excellent and ancient Green Book by Hugh M. Cole. It has also awesome pictures, illustrations and maps.

CAVEAT EMPTOR: the Kindle edition is riddled with typos, creaking Engrish translation and duplicated tracts of text - the hallmark of ebook churning through OCR.I would advise trying it on paper, that "jank" was very distracting. 

Edited January 5, 2016 by BletchleyGeek

[Myles Keogh]

Agreed on Hugh Cole's "Ardennes."  Rather dry reading, but terrific research and detail.  The 2001 edition published by William S. Konecky Associates is very good as to presentation: full color maps and lots of photographs.  Used copies can be found on Amazon for $8.

An older "pop" history book not yet mentioned is John D. Eisenhower's "Bitter Woods."  Eisenhower was a good writer and due his family connections had access to a lot of the top commanders for his research.  (However, he pulls his punches as to any criticism because these men were his dad's subordinates.)  Eisenhower's book was the first to really publicize the heroism of Lyle Bouck's I&R platoon.

A more academic/professional treatise is John Nelson Rickard's "Advance and Destroy: Patton as Commander in the Bulge."  Written by a professional Canadian military officer and Ph.D holder, this a very detailed operational study of Patton's famous "90 degree turn" and the subsequent attritional fighting to push the Germans out of the Bulge.  It's not "lite" reading material, but it's fairly well-written. 

 

[John Kettler]

Much food for thought here, to say the least. Let me take a bit of fiscal strain out of the equation. Against the Panzers grew out of a SAIC study for the Army. Here are the study volumes--available free from DTIC.

http://dsearch.dtic.mil/search?site=default_collection&q=armor+defense+study&client=dticol_frontend&proxystylesheet=dticol_frontend&proxyreload=1&filter=0&tlen=200&getfields=*&btnG=Google+search

Here is Cole's The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Ardennes/index.html

Hyperwar has a wealth of other relevant material.

CARL has gobs of goodies, too.

http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/searchterm/battle of the bulge!battle of the bulge/field/all!all/mode/all!all/conn/and!and/order/nosort/ad/asc
 

Maybe I missed it, but if not, I'm surprised John S.D. Eisenhower (Ike's son) The Bitter Woods isn't on the list. This is why it's well worth reading. Johbn Eisenhower is no lightweight, being, inter alia, a trained military historian and a retired Army BG. This is a high level command book, not CMFB type material.

These should keep people out of mischief for a bit!

Regards,

John Kettler

[Bozowans]

Blunt has come under fire by a few 84th veterans as being a fabricator and a BS artist.  His other book, "Foot Soldier," received some scathing reviews by men claiming to be veterans of the 84th who call into question Blunt's tales of daring-do.

Are these guys just carrying-on a personal grudge?  Or did Blunt's take on old soldier's stories go little too far?

I haven't read his other book, but I did see a lot of negative Amazon reviews for it, including someone claiming to be from the 84th questioning it. That isn't enough for me to dismiss the book though. While reading Inside the Battle of the Bulge, I did think some of the experiences he wrote about could be exaggerated or half-remembered, like how war memoirs often are (like how every German tank always seems to be a Tiger tank), his writing style can be kind of melodramatic, and he does get into some bizarre and seemingly unbelievable situations.

I can understand how some might question it. Some soldiers writing about their experiences can get dates and place names wrong, or confused with each other, thinking that one action happened at a particular time or at a particular place, while the reality may have been a bit different. So something might not add up when looking back. The day-to-day grind of front line fighting during a long campaign can be a confusing, exhausting blur for the soldiers on the ground.

Bizarre and unbelievable situations happen all the time in war. Some medal of honor citations I've read sound outright ridiculous to me, like it's right out of Call of Duty or something, with guys running around mowing down enemies left and right while getting shot, stabbed, blown up and clubbed over and over again, and yet they still keep going. Blunt's book actually seems tame compared to some of those guys, and most of his book is not unbelievable at all.

Blunt is on record receiving a bronze star, a purple heart and a few combat infantry badges. So I don't know really. I would still recommend reading the book for anyone interested in war or a game like Combat Mission.

[Sgt Joch]

Hugh Cole's "The Ardennes" is an excellent book. Available as a free PDF download:

http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/007/7-8-1/CMH_Pub_7-8-1.pdf

 

He served on Patton's staff during the battle. I have read most of it and it is a very good overview, both on the German and Allied side.

 

Edited January 11, 2016 by Sgt Joch

[Sgt Joch]

Anhony Beevor has a new book, "Ardennes 1944". I have only flipped through a few pages, but some details leave me wondering how thorough the research is. For example, he just parrots the wiki article on the supposed "Chenogne" massacre, without delving into the controversy of whether it even occured or is just a Neo Nazi invention. Glantz he is not.

[Duckman]

As a fellow Swede I feel I should chime in om Bergström. He is an amateur historian, albeit a well regarded one, and it shows sometimes. While his books are original and readable (possibly byproducts of him being an amateur) they are also quite full of sweeping, sometimes over the top statements and conclusions that a professional historian would avoid. For instance, in the Bulge book he claims that the Me 262 was "unquestionably the best fighter aircraft of the war" which is in fact a highly questionable statement (best in what way? etc). And this from a renowned aircraft historian!

The Bulge book seems to latch onto a recent historical, and quite predictable, trend where Wacht am Rhein has gone from "close run thing", to "crazy and doomed Hitler project", and now back to "gamble but perhaps not impossible". This is of course the natural pendulum swing of revisionism and counter-revisionism, but Bergström doesn't seem to fully realize this and fails to contextualize it (a mistake a professional historian, for all his other potential faults, would not make). 

So is Bergström a Wehrmacht cultist? There are traces of it, probably unwittingly, but his Black Cross, Red Star books do not lean in direction (in fact they engage in some much-needed Luftwaffe myth busting) and I think he has probably just tagged along the revisionist train out of general excitement. Read his books for the original research and the wonderful photos, not as the last or most balanced word on the subject.

(As for claims on general antiamericanism, I think that's mostly personal politics. The pro-Palestinian views he seems to espouse are very common in Sweden and especially, dare I say, among people of his generation. His criticism of the US Army in the book appears well sourced, if a bit unbalanced at times, and he's hardly the first author that has highlighted serious problems with e.g. the US Army's replacement system or Allied strategic decisions post-Normandy.)

Edited January 12, 2016 by Duckman