The Guns at Last Light

The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945

By: Rick Atkinson

Narrated by: L. J. Ganser

Length: 32 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

The eagerly awaited final volume in Pulitzer Prize-winner Rick Atkinson's New York Times best-selling Liberation Trilogy.

It is the 20th century's unrivaled epic: At a staggering price, the United States and its allies liberated Europe and vanquished Hitler. In the first two volumes of his best-selling Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson recounted the history of how the American-led coalition fought its way from North Africa and Italy to the threshold of victory. Now he tells the most dramatic story of all - the titanic battle in Western Europe.

D-Day marked the commencement of the war's final campaign, and Atkinson's astonishingly fresh account of that enormous gamble sets the pace for the masterly narrative that follows. The brutal fight in Normandy, the liberation of Paris, the disaster that was Market Garden, the horrific Battle of the Bulge, and finally the thrust to the heart of the Third Reich - all these historic moments come utterly alive. Atkinson tells the tale from the perspective of participants at all levels, from presidents and prime ministers to ambitious generals, from war-weary lieutenants to terrified teenage riflemen. When Germany at last surrenders, we understand anew both the devastating cost of this global conflagration and the awe-inspiring effort that led to Germany's surrender.

With the stirring final volume of this monumental trilogy, Rick Atkinson's remarkable accomplishment is manifest. He has produced the definitive chronicle of the war that restored freedom to the West. His lively, occasionally lyric prose brings the vast theater of battle, from the beaches of Normandy deep into Germany, brilliantly alive. It is hard to imagine a better history of the western front's final phase.

©2013 Rich Atkinson (P)2013 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"Superb… The book is distinguished by its astonishing range of coverage… [Atkinson’s] lively, occasionally lyric prose brings the vast theater of battle, from the beaches of Normandy deep into Germany, brilliantly alive. It is hard to imagine a better history of the western front’s final phase." ( Publishers Weekly, starred review)

"[An] extraordinary accomplishment. This is a beautifully written, moving account of one of the most bittersweet chapters in modern history… The details build a stunning and precise account of major movements—from Normandy to Paris, from the South of France to Grenoble—and close-up portraits of famous figures that make them living, breathing beings." ( Smithsonian Magazine)

"Superb… The book is distinguished by its astonishing range of coverage… [Atkinson’s] lively, occasionally lyric prose brings the vast theater of battle, from the beaches of Normandy deep into Germany, brilliantly alive. It is hard to imagine a better history of the western front’s final phase." ( Publishers Weekly, starred review)

An excellent finish

An excellent and worthy finish of this trilogy. And an outstanding oral presentation by the narrator. Highly recommended.

A Rousing and Weighty Conclusion

For now, Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy stands as one of the monumental works of the Second World War in the Mediterranean and Western Europe. With "The Guns at Last Light", Atkinson finally ties together what must have been tens of thousands of hours of research into a historically captivating conclusion to the defining event of the twentieth century.

Great book and series!

Rick Atkinson did an amazing job with these three books. He provides the reader with a lot of information but doesn't overload you with that information. I wish that all three books would have kept George Guidall as the reader. Also it would have been very nice to have PDF's for all the maps and photos for each of the books for you to use to better understand the battles.

Now I Know -- thanks Rick Atkinson

Sweeping in scope both in scale and in detail, Rick Atkinson's "The Guns at Last Light" captures all levels of the greatest event in the history of humankind. For me, whose father arrived in the European Theater of Operations the 2nd week after D-Day, it brought forth an emotional response I hadn't anticipated. My Dad came home from the war early after German 88's hit around his position during the Battle of St. Lo in France. He never spoke of what he had to do, but he was forever proud of his service, his war buddies, and his country.

An honest accounting of WW2 in Western Europe

This book is very well written and pulls no punches on the truth of war.

A Powerful Conclusion to the WWII Trilogy

Of the three components (and three books) of Rick Atkinson’s World War II trilogy detailing the history of the American effort in the European Theater of operations, “The Guns at Last Light” was the one that I was least looking forward to reading. The reason for this is that, while I had only previously read a little on the operations in Northern Africa and Italy (the components of the first to books), I had already read a substantial amount of history covering the actions from the Normandy invasions through the end of the war. As it turns out, I had nothing to be concerned about with this book. While the basic movements and history that I was already familiar with was indeed covered, Atkinson gave me enough new detail to keep me moving quickly through the entire book.

Some of the sections of the book that were particularly helpful and interesting to me included the history of the operations in the Hürtgen Forest, the Yalta Conference and Operation Dragoon (the allied military invasion and operations in Southern France). There was so much new material here for me to dig my teeth into that I wondered how my previous reads had failed me on these counts. For example, I had never hear about the bed bug infestation that afflicted the participants in the Yalta Conference. They were so bad that even Winston Churchill himself suffered from chewed up and bleeding feet. Be it Stalinist trickery, or simply the circumstances befallen upon a region wreaked with recent warfare, stories like this play into the history in interesting ways.

Because there is so much new information in this book, and because Atkinson is such a masterful author of military campaign, I can highly recommend this book…even for previously avid readers of World War II history.

Amazing

Rick Atkinson's trilogy on the American War in Western Europe during WWII is amazing. It is the best overall history of the war that I have read. The author has an incredible talent for telling a comprehensive story in a fast-paced manner that keeps the reader engaged. This is not your typical history. The author also has the ability to add a significant amount of humor to the narrative while remaining respectful and serious. Unlike the second book in this series, this book is well narrated and enjoyable to listen to.

Spellbinding Account of WW2

Amazing and interesting details. Best book on the Army in Europe in WW2 I have read!

Well done

Would definitely recommend. Thorough but not overdone.
Very good narration.
God Bless the greatest generation!

A must read

This series is a must read to understand so much of WW2, it’s origins and consequences.