Arnhem: Black Tuesday

By: Al Murray

Narrated by: Al Murray

Brought to you by Penguin.

The Battle of Arnhem is one of the best-known stories in British military history: a daring but thwarted attempt to secure a vital bridgehead across the Rhine in order to end the war before Christmas. It is always written about, with the benefit of unerring 20/20 hindsight, as being doomed to fail, but the men who fought there, men of military legend, didn't know that that was to be their fate.

By focusing on the events of one day as they happened through the eyes of the British participants and without bringing any knowledge of what would happen tomorrow to bear, Al Murray offers a very different perspective to a familiar narrative. Some things went right and a great many more went wrong, but recounting them in this way allows the reader to understand for the first time how certain decisions were taken in the moment and how opportunities were squandered.

Tuesday 19 September 1944 was that terrible day which became known as Black Tuesday. From just after 12:00 hours while plans were being made to seize the initiative and optimism reigned, to the following midnight, when Arnhem was burning and the Allied fortunes looked very different, a mere twenty-four hours changed the course of the war.

Al Murray has always been obsessed with Arnhem, and in Arnhem: Black Tuesday, brings all of his knowledge, interpretation and enthusiasm to bear to tell the story of one of history’s great heroic failures differently for the first time.

© Al Murray 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024

Critic reviews

This book is a revelation, not in facts delivered, but in the mood evoked. This is Arnhem unplugged…By confining himself to men in and around Arnhem on that Tuesday, Murray achieves something special.

This well-crafted, original title comes highly recommended and should sit towards the top of the pile of texts discussing the fateful engagement. Hopefully there will be more to come on the topic from Murray.

An original and insightful account... Murray breaks the story into its constituent parts and, demonstrating a deep understanding of events, argues that had the cards fallen differently, the plan might have worked

By examining the Arnhem battle in such forensic detail and delving well beyond the normal parameters on this subject, Al Murray has convincingly exposed a number of aspects that no-one has ever considered before and with highly conclusive results. This is an utterly brilliant work of history: compelling, entertaining, in parts truly shocking, profound, revelatory, full of wisdom and delivering a mass of totally fresh material. The twenty-hour timeframe is inspired, and despite focussing on only one day of fighting, this book really is the last word on the Battle of Arnhem. (James Holland)

Superb. By focusing on a single day, Al Murray’s Arnhem reintroduces the element of jeopardy to this famous battle and reminds us that, for the participants, nothing was set in stone. He is a military historian of originality and insight to compare with the best. (Saul David)

Excellent writing AND performance!

The author not only has a deep knowledge of a subject, it tells the story with compassion. Further he is the “performer“ for the audiobook. Excellent writing, and an excellent performance!

Unique focus on one day during Operation Market Garden

Al Murray is an impassioned but objective historian when telling the story of the singularly worst day for British forces in and around Arnhem during Operation Market Garden. This unique, real time approach to describing the battle is refreshing and Murray is a master of his craft. Those of us who cannot get enough of this noble effort to bring the war to an end in September 1944 have been given a glimpse of the expectations, the chaos, the bravery of those who fought and died on Black Tuesday. Murray also takes the time to describe the medical services that supported the 1st Abn and how doctors coped with the changing conditions of their work as the battlefield closed in around them, a topic rarely covered. Highly recommended, whether one is a “veteran” reader of all things Market Garden or venturing into learning details about it for the first time.

Details

Well done but at the least the listener needs a detailed map and best a sand table which is unlikely available it is well written and one gets the idea that the plan was faulty, the contingencies not executed A good example of the brass at the top putting their own potential glory above the value of the lives of heroic troops. Whether in sport or war , the winners never underestimate their opponents, a classic example here. Much ventured, little if nothing gained. It is understood that the English needed a hero, but it should not have been Montgomery. His victory in North Africa was the product of his overwhelming advantages , such as air, men and materiel. For the Germans, Rommel was initially absent, the Luftwaffe virtually absent and German reinforcements limited by allied control of the Mediterranean.