Y1806 The Ardennes Forest erupted at 5:30 a.m. on December 16, 1944, when 2,000 German artillery pieces opened fire along an 80-mile front, shattering the frozen silence and, with it, the entire Allied strategic assumption that the war was nearly won. American soldiers sleeping in the snow-covered woods were killed in their blankets or sent running … Read more
The private correspondence that could have altered the course of the Second World War has finally surfaced, revealing a bitter, behind-the-scenes campaign by one of Britain’s most venerable military leaders to destroy the reputation of his most successful American counterpart. During the summer of 1944, as Allied forces shattered the German lines in Normandy and … Read more
The Supreme Allied Commander did not send a subordinate. He did not dispatch a delegation. On the afternoon of April 12, 1945, Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered his driver to take him to Ohrdruf, a place that had just entered the lexicon of human atrocity, and he walked through the gates with his own boots on … Read more
Nemocniční chodba Metropolitního zdravotního centra páchla dezinfekcí, levným voskem a koncentrovanou úzkostí. Ležela jsem na sterilním bílém lůžku a zírala do stropu, snažíc se počítat drobné dírky v akustických panelech, abych se nezbláznila. Za přesně dvě hodiny měla začít operace mého mozkového nádoru. Zákrok, při kterém mi otevřou lebku a kde je hranice mezi životem … Read more
The roar of Japanese bombers was a constant, droning death knell over the gutted fortifications of Corregidor. Below, in a dank, bomb-proof tunnel, General Douglas MacArthur was not planning a counterattack. He was planning his exit. The date was March 17th, 1942, and the besieged island fortress in Manila Bay was the last bastion of … Read more
Regnvejret i Neapville om morgenen var ingen sagte støvregn. Det var en vedholdende, kold nålebyge, der frarøvede de velplejede græsplæner al farve. Jeg stod i mit køkken, hjertet i det hjem, jeg havde delt med Thomas i femogtredive år, og følte en mærkelig hul lethed i brystet, mens jeg lynede min rejsetaske. Julian, min eneste … Read more
The war room at 12th Army Group Headquarters in Luxembourg City was never silent, even in the dead of winter. At 6:41 on the morning of January 3rd, 1945, the hum of signals traffic and the low murmur of overnight staff updating situation maps filled the air. Major Chester Hansen sat at his desk, reviewing … Read more
The claret sat untouched beside General George C. Marshall’s water glass as he delivered the verdict that would reshape the Second World War’s final chapter. At Claridge’s Hotel on August 10, 1943, the American Army Chief of Staff did not come to negotiate with Winston Churchill. He came to execute a strategic foreclosure, and the … Read more
Da min eneste sønnesøn blev gift, forholdt jeg mig tavs. Jeg sagde ikke noget om, at jeg havde arvet 55 millioner dollars fra hans afdøde forældre. De satte mig ved et bord bagerst, bag søjlerne, hvor ingen rakte mig et glas. Jeg så ham holde tale for sin brud, mens hun hviskede, at jeg bare … Read more
London, December 1943 — In the hushed corridors of the War Office, a quiet but ferocious battle for the soul of the Allied war effort was being waged. It was a battle not against the German Wehrmacht, but against the Pentagon and the White House. The weapon of choice was not artillery, but backroom scheming, … Read more