The American army between world wars after World War I had virtually disintegrated. It was a very small force, given largely to practicing cavalry charges on western outposts. — Rick Atkinson Copy Share Image
I conduct very few interviews with veterans. The contemporaneous, or near-contemporaneous, record for WWII is so spectacularly deep that latter-day recollections are largely unnecessary for a historian. Of course, in considering any account, I'm looking for additional sources that can… — 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
