The Battle of the Bulge

The Allies' Greatest Conflict on the Western Front

By: Martin King

Narrated by: Mack Gordon

Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

"Martin King tells the human side of the story of the Battle of the Bulge better than anyone." (Commander Jeffrey Barta, US Navy, retired)

"I have walked the battlefields with Martin King, who has traversed them countless times with veterans of the Bulge. No one knows this story like Martin, and no one can tell it quite the way he does." (Rick Beyer, New York Times best-selling author of The Ghost Army of World War II)

"The vortex of a tornado is a vacuum, and that is where we were, in the centre of a storm of armour and artillery pushing forward into the Ardennes." (John Hillard Dunn, 106th Division, US Army)

The Battle of the Bulge was the largest land engagement of World War II. The German counter-attack, spearheaded by three Panzer armies, found the Allies unprepared and ill-equipped. As the fighting raged across the frosty forests of the Ardennes, it was left to a few untested US Infantry divisions to hold the Allied lines. Written by one of the world's leading experts on the subject, this account provides an essential introduction to the events of winter 1944-'45 and to the many soldiers who risked their lives in defence of freedom.

Drawing on personal interviews, extensive research, and an unparalleled knowledge of the region, Martin King explores one of the most important battles of World War II.

©2019 Arcturus Holdings Limited (P)2023 Arcturus Publishing & ID Audio

Seems like an overview

I was hoping for a more detailed account. Especially given that the author started out by stating his qualifications. If I needed a quick general history, I’d start with this book.

Decent Account

*Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.*

First off: this is not the best book on the battle of the bulge. That said, it’s not bad. I would recommend it to people who are just learning about the battle, or people who are obsessed with it. This book is fairly short, and easy to listen to and gives a good overview not just of the battle itself, but of the war in Europe surrounding the battle. This book also contains some very good first hand accounts that I haven’t heard before.

Now for some nitpicking. It seems strange to me that for such a short book it took so long to get into the battle itself. Also, for readers who have even a basic knowledge of WWII in Europe, some of the tangents the author runs off on are really not necessary to the main subject at hand.

The narrator was good, when he wasn’t mispronouncing words. He had trouble with general vocabulary as well as names of people and places, mostly with German/French/Dutch words, but also some English words as well.

In my opinion, this is worth the read, but it is definitely not the best account out there about the battle of the bulge.