Alex Kershaw's "The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of WWII's Most Decisive Conflict"

gary coghlan: Realistic and well written book that takes the reader along throughout the formation of a new type of intelligence gathering unit all the way to the end of the war .
Amazing story of how this unit helped determine the course of history

United States on Sep 27, 2023

Carolyn Greene: We’re so fortunate to have soldiers that fought or involved in anyway have that they felt comfortable in telling about our true history! TY

United States on Sep 25, 2023

Amazon Customer: A great read, couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend it for people who love history and what goes on in war and individual battle.

United States on Sep 23, 2023

Jim F: Captivating from the first chapter. Another outstanding, true life account of a segment of WWII as told by Alex Kershaw. Riveting, intense and emotional. I could not put the book down.

United States on Jul 19, 2023

Old Herbacious: I previously read a book by this author, I found his style easy to read and informative. If like me you feel it important that we understand and learn from the past then this book chronicles and archives events that are both harrowing and salutary lessons for both our present and future. I read a book about the brave rear guard actions at Dunkirk by a Scottish regiment which led to many casualties and thousands of soldiers taken as POW’s and was appalled at their treatment in captivity. This book augments this by highlighting the the atrocious treatment of GI’s and other POW’s. It also gives us some insight into the devastation wreaked against Civilian populations during the war, such as the bombing of Dresden. Overall a good historical account of the Battle of the Bulge up until the fall of Berlin. Recommended.

United Kingdom on Sep 02, 2021

D. Eppenstein: I have read Kershaw before and enjoyed his type of history and its presentation. Most histories are written by academics and cover the events and personages of historical eminence and those histories are important but only convey a sterile and impersonal image of the people and events depicted. Mr. Kershaw writes a different history and the kind that I enjoy the most, the personal history and this book is typical of that genre. The title might have you believe that the book is about the Battle of the Bulge and that would be true but not entirely. In this book the author has decided to tell the reader about one very small but significant slice of the history of the Battle of the Bulge. We, the readers, are treated to the story of one platoon of 18 men with specialized talents whose skills were intended by the Army for a specific use and purpose. These men were what today might be referred to as nerds. They were intelligent beyond the norms of most recruits and some were bilingual in languages valuable in the war they were fighting. These men were an I & R platoon, intelligence and reconnaissance, and were not meant in anyway as a combat unit but that is what happened to them...

United States on Feb 15, 2021

Mr P D: A great title concerning The Battle of the Bulge.

United Kingdom on Jun 20, 2018

Borduas Alexandre: Great story and very easy to read.

Canada on Dec 04, 2017

Robin Webster: Alex Kershaw’s book tells the remarkable true story of a platoon of 18 young Americans led by a 20 year old First Lieutenant Lyle Bouck . In 1944 in the Ardennes Forest while greatly outnumbered, they held up the German’s last major offensive, which allowed the Americans to regroup. Their actions had a positive influence on how the ‘The Battle of the Bulge.’ was won. After these brave young men were forced to surrender after running out of ammunition, the story goes on to give an account of the appalling conditions they and all allied troops had to contend with during the last months of the war. They faced near starvation, lack of sanitation and heating as Germany tried to carry on fighting when it could barely support its own population, let alone 250000 allied prisoners of war. Intertwined with this is also an excellent basic account of the ‘Battle of the Bulge’. I found this book really interesting. It is informative yet a real page turner, that flows like an easy to read novel. This book would be of interest to anyone who reads the historical WW2 books of ‘Stephen E. Ambrose's’ or Antony Beevor.

United Kingdom on Dec 25, 2016

Tedsyounglad: Not the usual American "Gung Ho" War story. Well written and revealing - particularly General Patton's involvement. An obvious film!

United Kingdom on Mar 18, 2013