Osprey Trade Editions : A Bridge Too Far - Operation Market Garden

'Market Garden' was one of the most audacious, and ultimately controversial, operations of the Second World War - a joint penetration, by an armoured column and a large-scale airborne drop, to secure key waterways and railheads and punch a decisive hole in the German defences. If it had succeeded, the war could have been ended in 1944. Yet the two-pronged attack failed in its objectives, as a confusing and daily-changing pattern of events unfurled. Instead of being relieved after 48 hours as expected, British paratroopers were cut off for nine days as the 2nd Army's spearhead, XXX Corps, were slowed down by constant German shelling. Facing two unexpected SS Panzer divisions the Allied paratroops were eventually evacuated across the Rhine after putting up an incredible fight: of the 10,000 men involved less than 2,000 came out, and of the five VCs won, four were posthumous. Sandhurst historian Stephen Badsey provides an authoritative and absorbing account of why this happened. He looks at the combatants closely, analysing their strengths and weaknesses, and explains the different phases of the battle. Bird's eye view maps greatly aid the reader's understanding, and the comprehensive text is ably backed up by carefully chosen photographs of the battle.