The spring of 1942 was given over to a very impassioned, strategic debate about where we should first attack in counterpunching against the Germans and Italians. The British argued very persuasively on the part of Winston Churchill, prime minister, that… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
“One man who did not understand was the New Zealanders’ legendary commander, Lieutenant General Bernard C. Freyberg. English-born but raised in New Zealand, Freyberg had been a dentist before finding his true calling as warrior of Homeric strength and courage.… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
“To his brother Edgar he confided, “I suffer from the usual difficulty that besets the higher commander—things can be ordered and started, but actual… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
“To make it perfectly clear to you: suppose you lose a hand or an ear is shot off, or perhaps a piece of your… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
“I could hear them yell and laugh each time and there was nothing I could do about it…. I saw them do it, like… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
“The largest contingent of invaders—drawn from the U.S. 1st Infantry and 1st Armored divisions aboard thirty-four transport ships—would storm ashore at Beach Z near… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
Global war is a clash of systems, not just battalions biffing one another in some godforsaken forest. — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
“fifty-six, his hour had come round. He was a paradox and would always remain one, a great tangle of calculated mannerisms and raw, uncalculated… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
“If U-boats torpedoed a transport during the Atlantic passage, how many destroyers should be left behind to pick up survivors? Hewitt was not certain… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
There were almost 11,000 American soldiers killed in Germany in April of 1945, the last full month of the war. That's almost as many… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
“TWO hundred and thirty nautical miles southeast of Gibraltar, Oran perched above the sea, a splinter of Europe cast onto the African shore. Of… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
“blared “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” clearly audible on the hillcrest, where a lieutenant who was immune to the prevailing confidence of his seniors… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
“The troops also edged toward that timeless state common to veteran armies in which the men trusted no one less wretched than themselves. Still… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
“In the first half of 1944, battle casualty rates for every 1,000 bomber crewmen serving six months in combat included 712 killed or missing… — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
