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Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II / the Violent Century: Battle #21
Ike's Last Battle: The Battle of the Ruhr Pocket April 1945
March - April 1945. Victory for the Allies was only a matter of time. Two great armies were racing towards each other crushing German resistance in their path.
Berlin was the prize, which the Soviets were in the event to seize. Instead Eisenhower, always more a political, rather than military, figure opted to destroy the German armies in and around the Ruhr. Churchill's warnings were ignored and Mongomery's plans overruled. What drove the decision-making at this vital time? Was it high level strategy or naked personal ambition? Charles Whiting sets out to examine the facts in his own distinctive style and reach a conclusion, no matter how unpalatable.
Berlin was the prize, which the Soviets were in the event to seize. Instead Eisenhower, always more a political, rather than military, figure opted to destroy the German armies in and around the Ruhr. Churchill's warnings were ignored and Mongomery's plans overruled. What drove the decision-making at this vital time? Was it high level strategy or naked personal ambition? Charles Whiting sets out to examine the facts in his own distinctive style and reach a conclusion, no matter how unpalatable.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1971
About the author
Charles Whiting
269 books55 followersCharles Whiting was a British writer and military historian and with some 350 books of fiction and non-fiction to his credit, under his own name and a variety of pseudonyms including Ian Harding, Duncan Harding, K.N. Kostov, John Kerrigan, Klaus Konrad, and Leo Kessler.
Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years.
After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy.
His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II.
One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer.
"He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books."
Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years.
After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy.
His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II.
One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer.
"He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books."
Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 8, 2012
Whiting is a noted WWII historian who entered the British Army at age 16 and participated in some of the events described in this book.
The prose is occasionally repetitive and unpolished, but on the whole this is a decent summary of a complex series of military events that culminated in the end of WWII in Europe. Whiting does an excellent job of mixing eyewitness, on-the-ground accounts of the last great battle of the European theater with the generals' bird's eye view, and concludes with a brief analysis of the politics behind these events, which contributed to the start of the Cold War.
Whiting believes that the Ruhr Pocket was a totally unnecessary waste of military effort, a whopping series of blunders on the part of Eisenhower and his opponent, the German field marshal Walther Model. His arguments are convincing, but this book was published in 1970 and subsequent analyses may differ.
Lavishly illustrated with large photos of men and materiel on both sides, this book does provide a window into the final days of the Reich in April, 1945.
The prose is occasionally repetitive and unpolished, but on the whole this is a decent summary of a complex series of military events that culminated in the end of WWII in Europe. Whiting does an excellent job of mixing eyewitness, on-the-ground accounts of the last great battle of the European theater with the generals' bird's eye view, and concludes with a brief analysis of the politics behind these events, which contributed to the start of the Cold War.
Whiting believes that the Ruhr Pocket was a totally unnecessary waste of military effort, a whopping series of blunders on the part of Eisenhower and his opponent, the German field marshal Walther Model. His arguments are convincing, but this book was published in 1970 and subsequent analyses may differ.
Lavishly illustrated with large photos of men and materiel on both sides, this book does provide a window into the final days of the Reich in April, 1945.
July 7, 2008
A well written, thoroughly researched, highly readable, balanced, and passionately angry book about the last days of World War 2. Though I have read much on the conflict, this book revealed to me the many mistakes the Allied high command (specifically the American military leaders) made in conquering Nazi Germany. The way the author connected Bradley's want of fame and the thousands of needless deaths of both Americans and Germans to please his vanity was saddening and disturbing. This book is a passionate analysis of how the greed and vanity of the American generals resulting in them defying logic, losing Berlin, and ultimately killing thousands of American and German soldiers and civilians unnecessarily. Highly Recommended.
April 3, 2018
A very interesting book on a oft forgotten episode of World War II. But instead of a regular account of a brilliant envelopment and capture/destruction of two Nazi Armies, we get essentially a book long whinge that Eisenhower did not go for Berlin and get there before the Russians. It's a book that screams that it was written in 1970, at the height of the silly NATO regrets that Eastern Europe was still under Soviet Sway- and it doesn't age well.
The Americans cross the the Rhine, and keep their armies going. The Germans try to hold their flanks, but lack the mobility to escape, with poor transport and Hitler's "Stand and Hold" orders preventing a real defense. Inevitably, the noose tightens. Surrender comes as the Russians get the "honour' of taking Berlin, an action that would cost them over a hundred thousand lives. Whiting rages that the Germans might have surrendered to the Western Allies if they had raced for Berlin, but we're pretty sure now he's in dreamland.
If you can get over the constant plaintive whinging, this can be a good read-especially for the Junior read who might be put off by bigger book. The masses of pics, diagrams and maps are pretty good for the Military Enthusiast/Gamer/Modeller, and there are some nice anecdotes, but I think there may be better more focused choices. Read it and decide for yourself.
The Americans cross the the Rhine, and keep their armies going. The Germans try to hold their flanks, but lack the mobility to escape, with poor transport and Hitler's "Stand and Hold" orders preventing a real defense. Inevitably, the noose tightens. Surrender comes as the Russians get the "honour' of taking Berlin, an action that would cost them over a hundred thousand lives. Whiting rages that the Germans might have surrendered to the Western Allies if they had raced for Berlin, but we're pretty sure now he's in dreamland.
If you can get over the constant plaintive whinging, this can be a good read-especially for the Junior read who might be put off by bigger book. The masses of pics, diagrams and maps are pretty good for the Military Enthusiast/Gamer/Modeller, and there are some nice anecdotes, but I think there may be better more focused choices. Read it and decide for yourself.
May 16, 2023
This was a dull, plodding mishmash of a book and my first disappointment in this series of monographs on WW2. It gave the impression of being a "filler" for completist readers and it would have taken a better writer than Charles Whiting to rescue such an unpromising topic. Even the maps, usually a great strength of this series, were inadequate, the most important being borrowed from Liddell Hart's History of WW2 - unfortunately the one used to illustrate a different campaign and not very helpful for this one.
The central problem of this book is the fact that there wasn't really a "Battle of the Ruhr Pocket" - after the decision was taken to encircle the Ruhr rather than drive east for Berlin, the US 1st and 9th Armies surrounded Field Marshal Model's Army Group B in a matter of days, mainly in a triumphal procession against disintegrating resistance. After a failed attempt by the Germans to break out, the two armies engaged in mopping-up operations in the Ruhr rather than racing for Berlin as many thought they should have. There was some hard fighting and much heroism, but nothing to justify describing the events as a distinct campaign.
The writing is repetitious - I lost count of the number of uses of the phrase "grimy depressing industrial city", and sentences such as "But in spite of the many problems facing them that day the staff officers of the two armies agreed to go ahead with their task" (Eh ??) were just blatant padding.
And some of the historical analysis is a little questionable. Because it's a book about the Allies at the tail end of WW2, there are the standard gibes about Montgomery's slowness and caution - but actually after crossing the Rhine Montgomery wanted to drive with all the mobile forces to Berlin, leaving surrounded and immobile German remnants to be dealt with by follow-up formations. It was Eisenhower and Bradley, after their bloody nose in the Ardennes the previous winter, who insisted on a plodding broad-front strategy.
The US VII Corps commander, J. Lawton "Lightning Joe" Collins, is wrongly said to have acquired his nickname because of his "lightning advances" in the Pacific Campaign. Er, no. He was known as "Lightning Joe" because his first divisional command was the US 25th Infantry Division, nicknamed "Tropic Lightning", together with his middle name. There were no "lightning advances" in Guadalcanal & New Georgia.
So, despite the usual lavish illustrations, not a good addition to this generally -excellent series.
The central problem of this book is the fact that there wasn't really a "Battle of the Ruhr Pocket" - after the decision was taken to encircle the Ruhr rather than drive east for Berlin, the US 1st and 9th Armies surrounded Field Marshal Model's Army Group B in a matter of days, mainly in a triumphal procession against disintegrating resistance. After a failed attempt by the Germans to break out, the two armies engaged in mopping-up operations in the Ruhr rather than racing for Berlin as many thought they should have. There was some hard fighting and much heroism, but nothing to justify describing the events as a distinct campaign.
The writing is repetitious - I lost count of the number of uses of the phrase "grimy depressing industrial city", and sentences such as "But in spite of the many problems facing them that day the staff officers of the two armies agreed to go ahead with their task" (Eh ??) were just blatant padding.
And some of the historical analysis is a little questionable. Because it's a book about the Allies at the tail end of WW2, there are the standard gibes about Montgomery's slowness and caution - but actually after crossing the Rhine Montgomery wanted to drive with all the mobile forces to Berlin, leaving surrounded and immobile German remnants to be dealt with by follow-up formations. It was Eisenhower and Bradley, after their bloody nose in the Ardennes the previous winter, who insisted on a plodding broad-front strategy.
The US VII Corps commander, J. Lawton "Lightning Joe" Collins, is wrongly said to have acquired his nickname because of his "lightning advances" in the Pacific Campaign. Er, no. He was known as "Lightning Joe" because his first divisional command was the US 25th Infantry Division, nicknamed "Tropic Lightning", together with his middle name. There were no "lightning advances" in Guadalcanal & New Georgia.
So, despite the usual lavish illustrations, not a good addition to this generally -excellent series.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews