Alamo in the Ardennes

The Untold Story of the American Soldiers Who Made the Defense of Bastogne Possible

By: John C. McManus

Narrated by: John Glouchevitch

At last, here is a book that tells the full story of the turning point in World War II's Battle of the Bulge - the story of five crucial days in which small groups of American soldiers, some outnumbered 10 to 1, slowed the German advance and allowed the Belgian town of Bastogne to be reinforced. Alamo in the Ardennes provides a compelling, day-by-day account of this pivotal moment in America's greatest war.

©2007 John C. McManus (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Will become one of the classics of the literature of World War II combat." (Thomas Fleming, author of The New Dealers' War)

Great little known perspective.

I've only known this story as told by the 101st and 82nd airborne and not from the troops who took the initial attack and who held the Germans back long enough for the paratroopers to arrive. Very good book.

Awesome

I loved the flow and descriptions of the battles along with the soldier’s commentary. John’s books rock!

A story of the troops before easy company

This book sets the stage of the American defense of Bastogne corridor in the opening days of the bulge. The book details the initial defense of American lines in a desperate delaying action with historical overview and on the ground reports from soldiers.

The book is well written and the audio performance is well done. I took one star from performance due to some distracting unfamiliarities evident in the readers performance. Some German pronunciations are lacking and can distract from the story, notably the performer refers to German Pak guns (anti tank guns) as P-A-K guns rather then the more common pronunciation as a “pac” gun.

Overall I recommend the title to anyone interested in WWII or military history, just be prepared for the occasional distraction.

Excellent personal storytelling

It was a pleasure to follow the narrative of this superb storyteller thru the scores of individual stories and unit actions as these American Heroes who thought they were on R&R were faced with the entire weight of the vanguard of the heavily armed and armored German offensive. As with most American conflicts, there was much heroism. This book gives you an intimate textured inside look at the beginning of the largest battle involving the Americans in WWII.

interesting stores

Poorly edited in places. "Personal" officer? I also grew weary of the narrator and stopped listening. He has an annoying habit of interjecting pauses mid-sentence.