Sabers Through the Reich: World War II Corps Cavalry from Normandy to the Elbe

Battles and Campaigns Series

By: William Stuart Nance

Narrated by: Jim Woods

Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

Before the Allies landed on the beaches of Normandy in June 1944, their aerial reconnaissance discovered signs of German defenses on the îles St. Marcouf. From these two coastal islands, German artillery could bombard the 4th US Infantry Division and repulse a crucial thrust of Operation Overlord. With the fate of the war on the line, the 4th Mechanized Cavalry Group navigated the islands' minefields and reported no trace of German soldiers. Their rapid and accurate intelligence gave the Allies the necessary time and concentration of forces for the D-Day invasion to succeed.

In Sabers Through the Reich, William Stuart Nance provides the first comprehensive operational history of American corps cavalry in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during World War II. The corps cavalry had a substantive and direct impact on Allied success in almost every campaign, serving as offensive guards for armies across Europe and conducting reconnaissance, economy of force, and security missions, as well as prisoner of war rescues. From D-Day and Operation Cobra to the Battle of the Bulge and the drive to the Rhine, these groups had the mobility, flexibility, and firepower to move quickly across the battlefield, enabling them to aid communications and intelligence gathering and reducing the Clausewitzian friction of war.

The book is published by The University Press of Kentucky.

©2017 The University Press of Kentucky (P)2017 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic Reviews

"A particularly important work." (Williamson Murray, author of Moment of Battle: The 20 Clashes That Changed the World)

"A significant contribution to understanding the cutting-edge synergy between mass and mobility that defined the US Army's outstanding combat record in the ETO." (Dennis Showalter, author of Hitler's Panzers: The Lightning Attacks That Revolutionized Warfare)

An over made point

Sabers Through the Reich reads (listens) like a typical argumentative essay. Not that that's a bad thing but the structure repeats itself every chapter and subdivision making the whole experience repetitive. However, the in depth analysis of cavalry operations across the ETO is absolutely insightful and offers an oft overlooked perspective of that campaign.

The narration was easy to listen to and easy to understand. I'm sure some will be annoyed by the narrators methodology of deciphering acronyms but I had no issues.

As a modern armor/cavalry officer I can whole heartedly recommend this work to any fellow 19 series officer or anyone who wants to learn more about the role of cavalry in the ETO.

Too sterile

The author is clearly committed to the subject matter. However, the discourse is too high level to be interesting. I've listened to many operational level historic accounts of WW2 and this is the most boring one I've come across. There are no details whatsoever covering the cavalry unit engagements beyond things like "they screened the flank" and "they took heavy losses". Nothing about how the missions were conducted and what made the "heavily armed" cavalry units different during their engagements. A quick look in Wikipedia about the exploits of the 3rd MCG was more interesting, this is sad. One caveat, I only listened to 2 hours as by this point the level of detail had become clear.