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Snow and Steel: The Battle of the Bulge, 1944-45
Between December 16, 1944 and January 15, 1945, American forces found themselves entrenched in the heavily forested Ardennes region of Belgium, France, and Luxembourg defending against an advancing German army amid freezing temperatures, deep snow, and dense fog. Operation Herbstnebel--Autumn Mist--was a massive German counter-offensive that stunned the Allies in its scope and intensity. In the end, the 40-day long Battle of the Bulge, as it has come to be called, was the bloodiest battle fought by U.S. forces in World War II, and indeed the largest land battle in American history. Before effectively halting the German advance, some 89,000 of the 610,000 American servicemen committed to the campaign had become casualties, including 19,000 killed.
The engagement saw the taking of thousands of Americans as prisoners of war, some of whom were massacred by the SS--but it also witnessed the storied stand by U.S. forces at Bastogne as German forces besieged the region and culminated in a decisive if costly American victory. Ordered and directed by Hitler himself--against the advice of his generals--the Ardennes offensive was the last major German offensive on the Western Front. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment. Its last reserve squandered, these irreplaceable losses would hasten the end of the war.
In Snow and Steel, Peter Caddick-Adams draws on interviews with over 100 participants of the campaign, as well as archival material from both German and US sources, to offer an engagingly written and thorough reassessment of the historic battle. Exploring the failings of intelligence that were rife on both sides, the effects of weather, and the influence of terrain on the battle's outcome, Caddick-Adams deftly details the differences in weaponry and doctrine between the US and German forces, while offering new insights into the origins of the battle; the characters of those involved on both the American and German sides, from the general staff to the foot soldiers; the preparedness of troops; and the decisions and tactics that precipitated the German retreat and the American victory. Re-examining the SS and German infantry units in the Bulge, he shows that far from being deadly military units, they were nearly all under-strength, short on equipment, and poorly trained; kept in the dark about the attack until the last minute, they fought in total ignorance of their opponents or the terrain. Ultimately, Caddick-Adams concludes that the German assault was doomed to failure from the start.
Aided by an intimate knowledge of the battlefield itself and over twenty years of personal battlefield experience, Caddick-Adams has produced the most compelling and complete account of the Bulge yet written.
The engagement saw the taking of thousands of Americans as prisoners of war, some of whom were massacred by the SS--but it also witnessed the storied stand by U.S. forces at Bastogne as German forces besieged the region and culminated in a decisive if costly American victory. Ordered and directed by Hitler himself--against the advice of his generals--the Ardennes offensive was the last major German offensive on the Western Front. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment. Its last reserve squandered, these irreplaceable losses would hasten the end of the war.
In Snow and Steel, Peter Caddick-Adams draws on interviews with over 100 participants of the campaign, as well as archival material from both German and US sources, to offer an engagingly written and thorough reassessment of the historic battle. Exploring the failings of intelligence that were rife on both sides, the effects of weather, and the influence of terrain on the battle's outcome, Caddick-Adams deftly details the differences in weaponry and doctrine between the US and German forces, while offering new insights into the origins of the battle; the characters of those involved on both the American and German sides, from the general staff to the foot soldiers; the preparedness of troops; and the decisions and tactics that precipitated the German retreat and the American victory. Re-examining the SS and German infantry units in the Bulge, he shows that far from being deadly military units, they were nearly all under-strength, short on equipment, and poorly trained; kept in the dark about the attack until the last minute, they fought in total ignorance of their opponents or the terrain. Ultimately, Caddick-Adams concludes that the German assault was doomed to failure from the start.
Aided by an intimate knowledge of the battlefield itself and over twenty years of personal battlefield experience, Caddick-Adams has produced the most compelling and complete account of the Bulge yet written.
928 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 25, 2014
182 people are currently reading
1578 people want to read
About the author
Peter Caddick-Adams
18 books146 followersPeter Caddick-Adams is a lecturer in military history and current defense issues at the UK Defence Academy. He is the author of Monte Cassino: Ten Armies in Hell and Monty and Rommel: Parallel Lives. He holds the rank of major in the British Territorial Army and has served with U.S. forces in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
June 4, 2021
“[H]undreds of shadowy heads [were] bobbing up and down, coming over the crest of the hill...They acted like they were drunk or on drugs. They came over the hill screaming and shrieking. Their shrill screams went right through my head. I was absolutely terrified. They had already outflanked our company, and now they were coming to finish us off. In the middle of this terrifying battle, I heard a very confident calm voice inside my head say, ‘squeeze the trigger.’ I instantly calmed down, took careful aim at one of the charging Germans...and squeezed the trigger. He flung his arms over his head and fell down...At this moment I was a veteran combat soldier...”
- Henry F. Martin, Co. L, 424th Infantry Regiment, at the Battle of the Bulge, December 16, 1944
The Battle of the Bulge is one of the most famous (and oddly-named) battles in the history of the United States Army. When you think of U.S. participation in the European Theater of Operations, chances are you are imagining one of two things: Omaha Beach or the Bulge. So much of the Bulge has achieved iconic status: the snow and cold and contrapuntal Yuletide setting; the early confusion and retreats, marked by small bands of intrepid soldiers banding together in forlorn delaying actions; the confusion sown by English-speaking German troops dressed as Americans; the American general replying “Nuts” when asked to surrender; and Patton’s cavalry charge as the climax.
For all these reasons, the Battle of the Bulge has been the subject of countless books, documentaries, and movies (including several episodes of the wildly-successful miniseries Band of Brothers).
The Bulge, though, has significance beyond its contributions to U.S. military lore. The Western Front of the Second World War is often seen as the undercard to the larger clashes between Germany and the Soviet Union. But the Bulge – which took place mainly in Belgium – is one of the few western battles comparable to the Eastern Front in terms of divisions involved and casualties inflicted. It provides a certain legitimacy to the efforts of the western Allies, whose labors are often deprecated in comparison to those of the U.S.S.R. The battle also marked the last bloody gasp of Nazi Germany, and it ended in utter failure, chewing up troops that would have better served Germany in the east.
This was a big, complicated engagement, filled with countless small unit actions, and gilded with all manner of myth. To that end, Peter Caddick-Adam’s Snow and Steel is a perfect match. It is a big book devoted to making sense of the complexities and piercing the myths and romances with a hard look at the evidence. More than that, Caddick-Adams does it all with infectious exuberance for his chosen subject.
Snow and Steel starts with a thorough analysis of German aims and preparations. It takes you all the way back to 1940 and the attack through the Ardennes that helped topple France. In doing so, Caddick-Adams discusses the state of German Army in 1944, especially its poor mechanization, fuel shortages, and reliance on horsepower (as in, the power of actual horses). This kind of armaments analysis is helpful, because the common notion (perpetuated by mistaken eyewitnesses) of the Bulge is that it was all Nazi Tiger IIs versus overmatched U.S. Shermans.
In discussing the lead-up to the Ardennes counteroffensive, Caddick-Adams also presents a sharp psychological portrait of Hitler as a strategic buffoon. His plan was for his forces to capture Antwerp, despite the unfeasibility of such a task, and despite the fact that there wasn’t much of a plan with what to do with the port city if captured. Hitler was also tactically bereft, refusing any and all tweaks to his overly-ambitious plot that might have made for a successful gambit. As Caddick-Adams shows, Hitler was always a gambler, relying on the unfortunate responses of his enemies to cover up for his illogic and stupidity. By 1944, his nonsensical decisions were finally catching up with him. (Of interest: Caddick-Adams suggests that the Ardennes counteroffensive may also have been a means of shoring up Hitler’s domestic position, in response to the July 20th plot to assassinate him).
Allied shock and surprise in the face of the German counteroffensive has always been one of the major themes of the Battle of the Bulge. After all, it was the early successes of this sudden attack – which punched a salient into the American front lines – that gives the battle its name.
At the time the Germans launched their assault against Omar Bradley’s 12th Army Group on December 16, 1944, many on the Allied side thought that the Germans were spent. The Normandy invasion had been successful; the Battle for France had been won; all that was left, it seemed, was the mopping up. Then, seemingly without warning, there were panzers plunging through the mist and fog, right into the squishy center of the American lines.
Caddick-Adams engages in a lengthy and reasoned discussion of Allied intelligence failures. Like the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, there were a lot of warning signs, but because various intelligence units did not communicate with each other, it was like the blind men and the elephant. No one connected all the fragments into a single picture.
(While Caddick-Adams takes Bradley to task, he is surprisingly complimentary towards Dwight Eisenhower, who he says quickly saw the danger and took actions to turn the German thrust into a potential Cannae, complete with a double-envelopment).
The Battle of the Bulge was a wide-ranging battle, taking place over the course of many weeks. (Some historians don’t mark the endpoint until February 1945). It is thus to Caddick-Adams’ credit that he keeps you oriented to date, time, and place, in order to maintain some semblance of order in a disordered battle.
This is not to say that Snow and Steel is a buttoned-up book, because it’s not. Actually, it is rather shaggy at times, full of trivia-filled digressions, where one topic suddenly opens a whole host of others. For instance, in the chapter on the Malmedy Massacre (where Peiper’s 1st Panzer Division murdered nearly 100 American P.O.W.s), Caddick-Adams takes the opportunity to survey war crimes committed by both the Germans and the Allies. Other diversions include the use of methamphetamine by German soldiers, the stories of Romans and Barbarians who battled over the same ground, and numerous cameos by an all-star cast of supporting characters, such as actor David Niven and writers Ernest Hemingway and Kurt Vonnegut.
Caddick-Adams propensity to go off topic is a sign of his enthusiasm. In a way, it seems like he has been waiting his whole life to write this, and he peppers the narrative with anecdotes from his many excursions to the battlefield. It is fair to say he goes on too long. Once the battle is over, he keeps writing, all the way to the end of World War II, and on into the Cold War. Still, when the author is having a good time, the reader is having a good time, and I didn't mind it too much, even when Caddick-Adams was delivering a movie review of the 1965 cinematic disaster that was Robert Shaw in The Battle of the Bulge.
Perhaps the only real flaw in Snow and Steel is in the battle descriptions themselves, which tend to lack much flair, tactility, or really good first-person accounts. In other words, Caddick-Adams does not really take the opportunity to build a good set piece. Typically, this would represent a rather significant demerit. Everything else is so good, though, that I could hardly bring myself to care. I came to think of it almost as one of those deliberate imperfections that artists sometimes work into their projects, as an act of humility.
Snow and Steel is an achievement that it will appeal to all types of interested readers: from WWII newcomers to experts; from those who thought the Battle of the Bulge referred to a losing struggle for their waistlines to those who have a portrait of Charles B. MacDonald hanging over the fireplace.
There will never be a final word on such a famous and dramatic battle. That said, it is fair to say that Snow and Steel is the now the standard.
- Henry F. Martin, Co. L, 424th Infantry Regiment, at the Battle of the Bulge, December 16, 1944
The Battle of the Bulge is one of the most famous (and oddly-named) battles in the history of the United States Army. When you think of U.S. participation in the European Theater of Operations, chances are you are imagining one of two things: Omaha Beach or the Bulge. So much of the Bulge has achieved iconic status: the snow and cold and contrapuntal Yuletide setting; the early confusion and retreats, marked by small bands of intrepid soldiers banding together in forlorn delaying actions; the confusion sown by English-speaking German troops dressed as Americans; the American general replying “Nuts” when asked to surrender; and Patton’s cavalry charge as the climax.
For all these reasons, the Battle of the Bulge has been the subject of countless books, documentaries, and movies (including several episodes of the wildly-successful miniseries Band of Brothers).
The Bulge, though, has significance beyond its contributions to U.S. military lore. The Western Front of the Second World War is often seen as the undercard to the larger clashes between Germany and the Soviet Union. But the Bulge – which took place mainly in Belgium – is one of the few western battles comparable to the Eastern Front in terms of divisions involved and casualties inflicted. It provides a certain legitimacy to the efforts of the western Allies, whose labors are often deprecated in comparison to those of the U.S.S.R. The battle also marked the last bloody gasp of Nazi Germany, and it ended in utter failure, chewing up troops that would have better served Germany in the east.
This was a big, complicated engagement, filled with countless small unit actions, and gilded with all manner of myth. To that end, Peter Caddick-Adam’s Snow and Steel is a perfect match. It is a big book devoted to making sense of the complexities and piercing the myths and romances with a hard look at the evidence. More than that, Caddick-Adams does it all with infectious exuberance for his chosen subject.
Snow and Steel starts with a thorough analysis of German aims and preparations. It takes you all the way back to 1940 and the attack through the Ardennes that helped topple France. In doing so, Caddick-Adams discusses the state of German Army in 1944, especially its poor mechanization, fuel shortages, and reliance on horsepower (as in, the power of actual horses). This kind of armaments analysis is helpful, because the common notion (perpetuated by mistaken eyewitnesses) of the Bulge is that it was all Nazi Tiger IIs versus overmatched U.S. Shermans.
In discussing the lead-up to the Ardennes counteroffensive, Caddick-Adams also presents a sharp psychological portrait of Hitler as a strategic buffoon. His plan was for his forces to capture Antwerp, despite the unfeasibility of such a task, and despite the fact that there wasn’t much of a plan with what to do with the port city if captured. Hitler was also tactically bereft, refusing any and all tweaks to his overly-ambitious plot that might have made for a successful gambit. As Caddick-Adams shows, Hitler was always a gambler, relying on the unfortunate responses of his enemies to cover up for his illogic and stupidity. By 1944, his nonsensical decisions were finally catching up with him. (Of interest: Caddick-Adams suggests that the Ardennes counteroffensive may also have been a means of shoring up Hitler’s domestic position, in response to the July 20th plot to assassinate him).
Allied shock and surprise in the face of the German counteroffensive has always been one of the major themes of the Battle of the Bulge. After all, it was the early successes of this sudden attack – which punched a salient into the American front lines – that gives the battle its name.
At the time the Germans launched their assault against Omar Bradley’s 12th Army Group on December 16, 1944, many on the Allied side thought that the Germans were spent. The Normandy invasion had been successful; the Battle for France had been won; all that was left, it seemed, was the mopping up. Then, seemingly without warning, there were panzers plunging through the mist and fog, right into the squishy center of the American lines.
Caddick-Adams engages in a lengthy and reasoned discussion of Allied intelligence failures. Like the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, there were a lot of warning signs, but because various intelligence units did not communicate with each other, it was like the blind men and the elephant. No one connected all the fragments into a single picture.
(While Caddick-Adams takes Bradley to task, he is surprisingly complimentary towards Dwight Eisenhower, who he says quickly saw the danger and took actions to turn the German thrust into a potential Cannae, complete with a double-envelopment).
The Battle of the Bulge was a wide-ranging battle, taking place over the course of many weeks. (Some historians don’t mark the endpoint until February 1945). It is thus to Caddick-Adams’ credit that he keeps you oriented to date, time, and place, in order to maintain some semblance of order in a disordered battle.
This is not to say that Snow and Steel is a buttoned-up book, because it’s not. Actually, it is rather shaggy at times, full of trivia-filled digressions, where one topic suddenly opens a whole host of others. For instance, in the chapter on the Malmedy Massacre (where Peiper’s 1st Panzer Division murdered nearly 100 American P.O.W.s), Caddick-Adams takes the opportunity to survey war crimes committed by both the Germans and the Allies. Other diversions include the use of methamphetamine by German soldiers, the stories of Romans and Barbarians who battled over the same ground, and numerous cameos by an all-star cast of supporting characters, such as actor David Niven and writers Ernest Hemingway and Kurt Vonnegut.
Caddick-Adams propensity to go off topic is a sign of his enthusiasm. In a way, it seems like he has been waiting his whole life to write this, and he peppers the narrative with anecdotes from his many excursions to the battlefield. It is fair to say he goes on too long. Once the battle is over, he keeps writing, all the way to the end of World War II, and on into the Cold War. Still, when the author is having a good time, the reader is having a good time, and I didn't mind it too much, even when Caddick-Adams was delivering a movie review of the 1965 cinematic disaster that was Robert Shaw in The Battle of the Bulge.
Perhaps the only real flaw in Snow and Steel is in the battle descriptions themselves, which tend to lack much flair, tactility, or really good first-person accounts. In other words, Caddick-Adams does not really take the opportunity to build a good set piece. Typically, this would represent a rather significant demerit. Everything else is so good, though, that I could hardly bring myself to care. I came to think of it almost as one of those deliberate imperfections that artists sometimes work into their projects, as an act of humility.
Snow and Steel is an achievement that it will appeal to all types of interested readers: from WWII newcomers to experts; from those who thought the Battle of the Bulge referred to a losing struggle for their waistlines to those who have a portrait of Charles B. MacDonald hanging over the fireplace.
There will never be a final word on such a famous and dramatic battle. That said, it is fair to say that Snow and Steel is the now the standard.
August 8, 2015
Mr. Caddick-Adams has written an excellent look at the German Offensive that became known as the Battle of the Bulge. This volume is an outstanding look at both side of the battle, how the German’s planned and executed it as well as the American reactions to it. He covers the intelligence failures by the various Allied commands and what commands got it right, specifically the US 3rd Army and why.
Roughly the first third of the book is the run up to the battle. In addition to the planning on German side, he looks at the troubles the extremely tight security gave the German tactical commanders. Mr. Caddick-Adams also looks at the quality of the troops the Germans had esp the infantry. To say they weren’t the same Army that had attacked in the Ardennes 4 years earlier is an understatement. Although there were many famous/veteran units assigned to the offensive, most had been completely rebuilt since the disaster that was Normandy. Most of the Infantry was either scraped together from unneeded Air Force/Navy units or brand new levees. All had very limited training in infantry tactics. The author makes a point of letting the reader know of their lack of tactical know how and experience and how it affected how they fought the battle. He also makes a point of how understrength those units were and how short the two infantry armies, the 15th and 7th, were of motorized transport - basically none. In making these points, he does not slight the effort of the US Divisions opposing them. There were still over 250,000 troops attacking 5 green or rebuilding US divisions.
In telling the battle itself, Mr. Caddick-Adams, who is a Territorial Officer in the British Army, does a superb job of telling the stories of the men who fought the battle, from the Division CPs down to the poor infantry soldier shivering in his foxhole. He also does an excellent job of telling the stories that are not particularly well know, esp the fight on the shoulders of the Bulge by the US 4th and 2nd IDs and the German 7th and 15th Armies. His take on the more famous parts of the battle are also well done. His telling of the plight of the US 106th ID brings to the forefront what the “fog” of battle can do. One very good example of this is the story of conversation between the commander of the 106th and his corps commander on the night of the 17th
The story of Kampfgruppe Pieper, the German unit that advanced the farthest, is one of the main story lines. In telling the story, he is very critical of the commander, Joachim Pieper. The author basically accuses him being tactically unaware of his surroundings. At one point he misses a major US fuel depot by less than 800 yds, by not checking side roads. He also faults him for slavishly adhering to the routes assigned his unit. He sites this as one of the reasons for his not keeping to his timetable. The author does give him somewhat of a pass for what happened at Malmedy. Troops of his command definitely committed the killings, but whether he ordered them can never be known.
The author does opine that the killings were not a major concern of Piepers and the troops had done much worse in Russia.
One aspect of the book that I really enjoyed was his personal accounts of walking the battlefield. Apparently some of it is still used as a NATO training area. Mr. Caddick-Adams accounts of finding items that were obviously leftovers from the battle made the story a little bit more human for me.
In the final section he looks as the written and filmed record of the battle. He gives his opinion on the various major books and the movies that have been made. I thought this added to my enjoyment, maybe because I basically agreed with his assessments.
This is definitely a five star read and maybe the definitive telling of the story.
Roughly the first third of the book is the run up to the battle. In addition to the planning on German side, he looks at the troubles the extremely tight security gave the German tactical commanders. Mr. Caddick-Adams also looks at the quality of the troops the Germans had esp the infantry. To say they weren’t the same Army that had attacked in the Ardennes 4 years earlier is an understatement. Although there were many famous/veteran units assigned to the offensive, most had been completely rebuilt since the disaster that was Normandy. Most of the Infantry was either scraped together from unneeded Air Force/Navy units or brand new levees. All had very limited training in infantry tactics. The author makes a point of letting the reader know of their lack of tactical know how and experience and how it affected how they fought the battle. He also makes a point of how understrength those units were and how short the two infantry armies, the 15th and 7th, were of motorized transport - basically none. In making these points, he does not slight the effort of the US Divisions opposing them. There were still over 250,000 troops attacking 5 green or rebuilding US divisions.
In telling the battle itself, Mr. Caddick-Adams, who is a Territorial Officer in the British Army, does a superb job of telling the stories of the men who fought the battle, from the Division CPs down to the poor infantry soldier shivering in his foxhole. He also does an excellent job of telling the stories that are not particularly well know, esp the fight on the shoulders of the Bulge by the US 4th and 2nd IDs and the German 7th and 15th Armies. His take on the more famous parts of the battle are also well done. His telling of the plight of the US 106th ID brings to the forefront what the “fog” of battle can do. One very good example of this is the story of conversation between the commander of the 106th and his corps commander on the night of the 17th
The story of Kampfgruppe Pieper, the German unit that advanced the farthest, is one of the main story lines. In telling the story, he is very critical of the commander, Joachim Pieper. The author basically accuses him being tactically unaware of his surroundings. At one point he misses a major US fuel depot by less than 800 yds, by not checking side roads. He also faults him for slavishly adhering to the routes assigned his unit. He sites this as one of the reasons for his not keeping to his timetable. The author does give him somewhat of a pass for what happened at Malmedy. Troops of his command definitely committed the killings, but whether he ordered them can never be known.
The author does opine that the killings were not a major concern of Piepers and the troops had done much worse in Russia.
One aspect of the book that I really enjoyed was his personal accounts of walking the battlefield. Apparently some of it is still used as a NATO training area. Mr. Caddick-Adams accounts of finding items that were obviously leftovers from the battle made the story a little bit more human for me.
In the final section he looks as the written and filmed record of the battle. He gives his opinion on the various major books and the movies that have been made. I thought this added to my enjoyment, maybe because I basically agreed with his assessments.
This is definitely a five star read and maybe the definitive telling of the story.
May 13, 2016
Peter Caddick-Adams has created a compelling read that is a worthy addition to the already extensive number of books devoted to Battle of the Bulge.
Most books have concentrated on the military action, however approximately a third of the book is devoted to the build up, the planning, the personalities. I found particularly interesting the detail on Hitler’s psychological state of mind post the July 1944 attack on his life and also the effects the same attack has on the behaviour of the German Commanders, creating a culture of fear of showing any divergence from Hitler’s views no matter how illogical those views were.
The remainder of the book covers extensively the military actions and gives overdue prominence to the actions of those units holding the shoulders of the Bulge, who are normally overshadowed by the actions at Bastogne.
The final chapters cover the later lives of the personalities involved and the extensive literature and films produced around the battle where he gives deservedly short shrift to the infamous 1965 Battle of The Bulge film.
As a serving officer of the British Army Caddick- Adams has attended many Staff Rides in the area and his descriptions of the battlefield today added a further dimension not normally present in books of this nature. I hadn’t realised that NATO troops extensively studied this battle to gain insight into how a similar Warsaw Pact invasion would pan out.
One key piece of terrain is still a NATO training ground where on exercise the author was surprised to be digging up the cartridge cases and mess tins of a 1944 predecessor who had taken shelter in the same location.
Highly recommended for any student of the Bulge and also the general reader who wishes to understand not only the military aspects, but the wider strategic aspects on the 70th anniversary of the battle.
Most books have concentrated on the military action, however approximately a third of the book is devoted to the build up, the planning, the personalities. I found particularly interesting the detail on Hitler’s psychological state of mind post the July 1944 attack on his life and also the effects the same attack has on the behaviour of the German Commanders, creating a culture of fear of showing any divergence from Hitler’s views no matter how illogical those views were.
The remainder of the book covers extensively the military actions and gives overdue prominence to the actions of those units holding the shoulders of the Bulge, who are normally overshadowed by the actions at Bastogne.
The final chapters cover the later lives of the personalities involved and the extensive literature and films produced around the battle where he gives deservedly short shrift to the infamous 1965 Battle of The Bulge film.
As a serving officer of the British Army Caddick- Adams has attended many Staff Rides in the area and his descriptions of the battlefield today added a further dimension not normally present in books of this nature. I hadn’t realised that NATO troops extensively studied this battle to gain insight into how a similar Warsaw Pact invasion would pan out.
One key piece of terrain is still a NATO training ground where on exercise the author was surprised to be digging up the cartridge cases and mess tins of a 1944 predecessor who had taken shelter in the same location.
Highly recommended for any student of the Bulge and also the general reader who wishes to understand not only the military aspects, but the wider strategic aspects on the 70th anniversary of the battle.
March 8, 2016
It is hard to find something new to contribute in regards to the Bulge Battles. There have been so many books on the subject over the years that it has been covered almost more extensively than any other Battle of World War II. Still in this book the author does manage it, but the way he goes about it does cost.
The first third of the book is pre-battle settings and background. Something that this book does much better than almost any other I have come across. The last third of the book is given to coverage of Nordwind and post Bulge and WWII. Again the author does it better in this book than I have seen anywhere else, but it does leave only a third of the book to the main topic, the battle. This limitation does cost the book in some regards.
The author covers the battle with a change from most other books on the subject, he starts with the southern shoulder and moves north as opposed to going in the opposite direction. He also takes this way of doing things farther along date wise in the battle than most other books on the subject. This last caused some confusion since it made it hard to put the battle in one place in relation to the course of the battle elsewhere. In itself this is not all that surprising, the Bulge is a series of battles that often lead to confusion when written out and trying to follow in any sort of a coherent manner. The authors attempt to bring order out of confusion is as good as any.
Where the book falls short in regards to the battle (at least from my point of view) is while he talks a bit about what is being done to bring stability to a fast moving situation it is very little. Where he does talk about the pull of units to the Bulge it is mostly in regards to the Northern Half, so Patton and the British at the point get almost no mention until they are actually fighting in the Bulge.
At times the Author seems on the verge of joining the Monty club, but while he gives Monty more credit than many books on the Bulge (and probably rightly so) he also comes down hard on Monty's press conference that did as much or more to split the Allies than the actual Bulge ever did.
Even though the Bulge Battles and especially Nordwind don't get the full attention they might deserve the book does stand alone. It is better in conjunction with at least one of the three books that give the Battles more focus, The Official History, Time for Trumpets, or The Bitter Woods, it does in fact give a good accounting. If it had been more detailed in that regard (it would have been much longer) and I would have given it a five. It is however, one of the best books on the subject I have read in years and I will keep it on my shelf to re-read in the future.
The first third of the book is pre-battle settings and background. Something that this book does much better than almost any other I have come across. The last third of the book is given to coverage of Nordwind and post Bulge and WWII. Again the author does it better in this book than I have seen anywhere else, but it does leave only a third of the book to the main topic, the battle. This limitation does cost the book in some regards.
The author covers the battle with a change from most other books on the subject, he starts with the southern shoulder and moves north as opposed to going in the opposite direction. He also takes this way of doing things farther along date wise in the battle than most other books on the subject. This last caused some confusion since it made it hard to put the battle in one place in relation to the course of the battle elsewhere. In itself this is not all that surprising, the Bulge is a series of battles that often lead to confusion when written out and trying to follow in any sort of a coherent manner. The authors attempt to bring order out of confusion is as good as any.
Where the book falls short in regards to the battle (at least from my point of view) is while he talks a bit about what is being done to bring stability to a fast moving situation it is very little. Where he does talk about the pull of units to the Bulge it is mostly in regards to the Northern Half, so Patton and the British at the point get almost no mention until they are actually fighting in the Bulge.
At times the Author seems on the verge of joining the Monty club, but while he gives Monty more credit than many books on the Bulge (and probably rightly so) he also comes down hard on Monty's press conference that did as much or more to split the Allies than the actual Bulge ever did.
Even though the Bulge Battles and especially Nordwind don't get the full attention they might deserve the book does stand alone. It is better in conjunction with at least one of the three books that give the Battles more focus, The Official History, Time for Trumpets, or The Bitter Woods, it does in fact give a good accounting. If it had been more detailed in that regard (it would have been much longer) and I would have given it a five. It is however, one of the best books on the subject I have read in years and I will keep it on my shelf to re-read in the future.
September 14, 2015
If you want to read about the Battle of the Bulge, this book should be on your short list. I liked that it covered so many aspects of the battle—the lead-up, Hitler’s mindset about it, the troops on the ground, the leadership, and the battle’s significance for the war and since. The writing was good. Often long history books like this one (700+ pages before you even get to the notes) tend to drag a little for me by the time I’ve been reading them for a few weeks. This one didn’t. The author included things like recollections of his visits to the battlefields, and that added to the story. I’ll give it five stars—good enough that I wouldn’t mind reading it again. (Although let’s be honest, my to-read list is out of control and there are lots of other books on the subject to read before I make it back to this one. Maybe in a few decades.)
January 26, 2023
A toss up between 4 and 5 stars.
It's a great book on its own and I had problems with structure rather than contents. It was an enjoyable to read, although on occasion a tad confusing. My main gripe with structure comes from what I learned in Uni about writing thesis, rather than what I would now consider an unpleasant reading experience, which this book was not.
Instead of following a chronological timetable or few selected characters, the book goes through Ardennes offensive with geographical structuring, starting from one location and then switching to another. On occasion he switches to following certain units through time, but it nonetheless the structure here works well for my liking. It does somewhat hinder on understanding what happened on the same time elsewhere, but the offensive was so short lived, it isn't much of a problem.
What really lifted this book for me was how much it covered the German side of the conflict. Instead of having chapter on chapter about Ike and Monty, Caddick-Adams introduces us to the German leadership and also divisional structures and where the manpower was scraped from. In general the book feels a much more balanced description of a western front battle than one usually gets.
My main gripe is how the book starts with 250 pages of introductions and how he went way too far in my opinion. Long introductions to events are just fine(for example At Dawn We Slept). As a history buff it's nice to read all sorts of historical connections, but when your book is about a battle that lasted for maybe a month or too, is it wise to cover all the Roman battles that happened near it, contents of Wagnerian operas etc. It's not a problem to mention them, but C-A goes for too long with them trying to argue that they had (huge) impact on the operation. It's a bit too far fetched for me, and could've been left to end notes or just a short mentioning of the thing.
Also the book ends with tad too long description what happened afterwards taking almost 10% of the length of the book to handle things that were probably affected by Bulge. Including are the battle of Berlin, Yalta, Fulda Gap, Yom Kippur war etc all the way to the 80's. At some point someone should've said "that's not in the scope of this book, cut it out and make an article or something other of it".
His Sand/Fire and Steel went to my shorter list immediately after reading this.
It's a great book on its own and I had problems with structure rather than contents. It was an enjoyable to read, although on occasion a tad confusing. My main gripe with structure comes from what I learned in Uni about writing thesis, rather than what I would now consider an unpleasant reading experience, which this book was not.
Instead of following a chronological timetable or few selected characters, the book goes through Ardennes offensive with geographical structuring, starting from one location and then switching to another. On occasion he switches to following certain units through time, but it nonetheless the structure here works well for my liking. It does somewhat hinder on understanding what happened on the same time elsewhere, but the offensive was so short lived, it isn't much of a problem.
What really lifted this book for me was how much it covered the German side of the conflict. Instead of having chapter on chapter about Ike and Monty, Caddick-Adams introduces us to the German leadership and also divisional structures and where the manpower was scraped from. In general the book feels a much more balanced description of a western front battle than one usually gets.
My main gripe is how the book starts with 250 pages of introductions and how he went way too far in my opinion. Long introductions to events are just fine(for example At Dawn We Slept). As a history buff it's nice to read all sorts of historical connections, but when your book is about a battle that lasted for maybe a month or too, is it wise to cover all the Roman battles that happened near it, contents of Wagnerian operas etc. It's not a problem to mention them, but C-A goes for too long with them trying to argue that they had (huge) impact on the operation. It's a bit too far fetched for me, and could've been left to end notes or just a short mentioning of the thing.
Also the book ends with tad too long description what happened afterwards taking almost 10% of the length of the book to handle things that were probably affected by Bulge. Including are the battle of Berlin, Yalta, Fulda Gap, Yom Kippur war etc all the way to the 80's. At some point someone should've said "that's not in the scope of this book, cut it out and make an article or something other of it".
His Sand/Fire and Steel went to my shorter list immediately after reading this.
April 29, 2025
Very well researched and written book. Great combination of facts and personal experiences. Very recommended
September 20, 2014
Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.
I’m not sure what most Americans know about World War II any more. Don’t get me wrong, I think most Americans know about it in the general sense, but the general battles? The Bridge Too Far? Operation Market Garden? I’m not sure Americans know what the terms mean. Even something like the History Channel focuses more on Nazis and the occult than the actual history.
It will be sad if people think the Battle of Bulge only refers to losing weight.
Sometimes I feel so old.
I should admit while I knew what the Battle of Bulge was before reading this, I didn’t know as much or as much detail. I knew its importance that it was mostly American, but in terms of the specific names of certain leaders, no, that I didn’t know.
Caddick-Adams’ book length study of the Battle of Bulge chronicles not only the Allies’, primary the Americans, but also the Germans’ side of the battle. This gives the reader a greater understanding of both sides of the Battle and how each decision by either side finds into each other. This includes studies/ sketches of the top commanders, such as Eisenhower and Hitler, as well as the lowly soldier.
The use of the details about commanders allows Caddick-Adams to discuss the reasons for having the Battle at the Bulge as well as a detailed analysis about how the Nazis (i.e. Hitler) decide to fight there.
At times, with the endless description it does become slightly dull, almost as if everything runs together. This is more than made up, however, by the depth of intelligence and obvious love that the author has for the topic. The end of the book details how the Battle not only affected the outcome of the war but also how Hollywood and others have portrayed it.
The book is well worth reading for those interested in World War II and/or the Cold War.
Recommended.
Crossposted at Booklikes.
I’m not sure what most Americans know about World War II any more. Don’t get me wrong, I think most Americans know about it in the general sense, but the general battles? The Bridge Too Far? Operation Market Garden? I’m not sure Americans know what the terms mean. Even something like the History Channel focuses more on Nazis and the occult than the actual history.
It will be sad if people think the Battle of Bulge only refers to losing weight.
Sometimes I feel so old.
I should admit while I knew what the Battle of Bulge was before reading this, I didn’t know as much or as much detail. I knew its importance that it was mostly American, but in terms of the specific names of certain leaders, no, that I didn’t know.
Caddick-Adams’ book length study of the Battle of Bulge chronicles not only the Allies’, primary the Americans, but also the Germans’ side of the battle. This gives the reader a greater understanding of both sides of the Battle and how each decision by either side finds into each other. This includes studies/ sketches of the top commanders, such as Eisenhower and Hitler, as well as the lowly soldier.
The use of the details about commanders allows Caddick-Adams to discuss the reasons for having the Battle at the Bulge as well as a detailed analysis about how the Nazis (i.e. Hitler) decide to fight there.
At times, with the endless description it does become slightly dull, almost as if everything runs together. This is more than made up, however, by the depth of intelligence and obvious love that the author has for the topic. The end of the book details how the Battle not only affected the outcome of the war but also how Hollywood and others have portrayed it.
The book is well worth reading for those interested in World War II and/or the Cold War.
Recommended.
Crossposted at Booklikes.
May 30, 2015
While the book is well-written, I didn't find it added much to our understanding of the battle. The strength of the book is in the unvarnished look this British officer takes at the opposing formations -- highlighting especially the inexperience of the replacements that had been used to recently bring the German formations leading the attack up to strength. He credits Eisenhower's handling of the battle to his early recognition of it's strength and the ability of the American Army to rapidly react and reinforce. His insights based on his numerous tours of the battle are considerable but at times they make the accounts seem like fodder for a tour guide. If you are unfamiliar with the Ardennes counteroffensive, this would be a good place to start.
May 25, 2025
I picked up this book with the intention of coloring in some of the story of my Great Grandfather’s Distinguished Unit Citation ribbon as there seems to be little to no documentation on it anywhere. While I continue to have more questions as to exactly what happened with his infantry regiment, this book was incredibly insightful in understanding the battle from a macro level down to the micro individual level. I think what this book does really well is put you in the psyche of the typical American soldier by just describing what is going on. Through the myriad of stories told, one can really piece together what it would’ve been like to be one of those guys out in the cold under fire. I greatly appreciated this book.
February 24, 2017
Comprehensive and engaging account of the Battle of the Bulge/Ardennes campaign. I especially enjoyed the first 300 or so pages, which provides the background, build-up, and the first day of the battle. Mr. Caddick-Adams is obviously very knowledgeable on all things "Bulge" and particularly adept at describing the terrain and making sense of the many moving parts and logistical challenges/problems that plagued both sides. That said, this is a very detailed account and I must admit I did bog down and run out of gas a bit over the last third of the book. (Sort of like the German Army - apologies, I couldn't resist that.) But overall a very impressive book and interesting read, with lots of helpful maps, glossary, photos, etc.
February 3, 2018
(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)
Snow and Steel will be a huge reassessment of Hitler's last great throw of the dice: 'The Battle of the Bulge', the battle for the Ardennes 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. This is an utterly fascinating five weeks when for a time it looked like Hitler had outflanked the allied armies pushing toward the Rhine and might just throw them back to the Normandy beaches. It is also the context for the catastrophic events at Bastogne depicted so graphically in Band of Brothers.
What a mammoth book - around 900 pages of slow and deliberate dissection of the history of this most famous battle.
I was nearly put off by the opening section - a pre-history of the months of preparation, and does mention Normandy and Africa is a passing fashion. The psychological war that was going on between Germany and the US is covered as well as some of the external factors that would be important in the coming months. While all this was important, it was a little heavy and took nearly a quarter of the book.
The following 400 pages contain details of the battle - and these sections were by far the best reading for me. The amount of research and understand the author has for this subject is astounding. The battlefield was described to the reader by both first-hand and secondary accounts and makes for fascinating reading. I found it to be one of the best sections of ANY book on WW2 (and I have read a few!) that I have come across.
The final part of the book is post-operations - thoughts written by the author - including political and cultural impacts at the time of writing - and also includes an index and bibliography.
If you are keen on WW2 history books, this one is a must read. But be warned - do not approach it lightly.
Paul
ARH
Snow and Steel will be a huge reassessment of Hitler's last great throw of the dice: 'The Battle of the Bulge', the battle for the Ardennes 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. This is an utterly fascinating five weeks when for a time it looked like Hitler had outflanked the allied armies pushing toward the Rhine and might just throw them back to the Normandy beaches. It is also the context for the catastrophic events at Bastogne depicted so graphically in Band of Brothers.
What a mammoth book - around 900 pages of slow and deliberate dissection of the history of this most famous battle.
I was nearly put off by the opening section - a pre-history of the months of preparation, and does mention Normandy and Africa is a passing fashion. The psychological war that was going on between Germany and the US is covered as well as some of the external factors that would be important in the coming months. While all this was important, it was a little heavy and took nearly a quarter of the book.
The following 400 pages contain details of the battle - and these sections were by far the best reading for me. The amount of research and understand the author has for this subject is astounding. The battlefield was described to the reader by both first-hand and secondary accounts and makes for fascinating reading. I found it to be one of the best sections of ANY book on WW2 (and I have read a few!) that I have come across.
The final part of the book is post-operations - thoughts written by the author - including political and cultural impacts at the time of writing - and also includes an index and bibliography.
If you are keen on WW2 history books, this one is a must read. But be warned - do not approach it lightly.
Paul
ARH
December 7, 2021
I finished Snow and Steel: The Battle of the Bulge, 1944-45 by Peter Caddick-Adams and he hit a homerun on this history of the Battle of the Bulge, I give a lot of 3-4 star ratings but I believe this is a 5.
So many history are big picture histories of the bulge but this book slams for me the definitive small unit and high level history on antecedents and day to day history of the bulge.
Adams gives a fair a balances view of the successes and failures of both the U.S. forces and the Germans as the British has very little to do with the bulk of the fighting.
Adams provides both a strategic and tactical view from both the German and Allied perspective. To go into all the small unit activity that Adams covers, but if you can only read one book on the Battle of the Bulge this is it.
So many history are big picture histories of the bulge but this book slams for me the definitive small unit and high level history on antecedents and day to day history of the bulge.
Adams gives a fair a balances view of the successes and failures of both the U.S. forces and the Germans as the British has very little to do with the bulk of the fighting.
Adams provides both a strategic and tactical view from both the German and Allied perspective. To go into all the small unit activity that Adams covers, but if you can only read one book on the Battle of the Bulge this is it.
January 4, 2015
A really well-written chronological history of the battle, with much time devoted to the background of the war, the commanders and the geography. Peter Caddick-Adams has some interesting things to say, for example, about the origins of Hitler's conception for the Ardennes campaign in the Wagnerian Ring Cycle - which glorified in his mind the value of life sacrifice - and the old legends of Arminius and the destruction of the Roman Legions of Varus in the depths of the German Wald. Lots of insights from the more traditional gamut of military history on themes of logistics and intelligence as well. This is more thoughtful and better written than 'Monty and Rommel', and although a huge book - 700 pages plus - it is a captivating read.
August 28, 2017
This book goes into the detail planning that Hitler had for what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. The author takes you through the history behind the area, the troops, and the equipment. He also goes over some of the lack of resources that were plaguing the Germans at this time. It was not fuel but who to get it to the front. Part of their problem was that they were still using donkeys, and horses to bring in supplies. When the Allies were trucks. Also even though the Germans had some superior weapons, they did not have enough men to train the new men in who to use them and then the next problem they began using old men and boys in their Army. Add in that some of the Generals that were picked to led had never led an attack before so if they did met resistance they had no idea how to fight without using the majority if their force. All of this would add to their problems. The author also breaks down the American side and gives you a detailed description of units and their rolls. He also shows you that at the very beginning that 106th did not surrender like everyone thinks, yes small groups did, but others fought as well as other units on the front and because of these units fighting most of them until they ran out of ammo they were able to help delay the Germans in order for the Allies to bring in the resting troops. You can also see were the leaders for the Allies us were sleeping. About the only one that was thinking that maybe something was amiss was Patton’ intelligence Officer Koch, who kept up to date maps of the Western front. Even after Patton was turned away by Marshall he told Koch to work up a plan. So Patton was ready as was Gavin the commander of the 82nd. I know this because my father fought with the 82nd in WWII and he fought in St. Vith area during this battle. The author also goes into how the press picked up the story of Bastogne and the commander saying “Nuts” to the Germans when asked to surrender. Because of this all of the deeds by other units and there were plenty got over looked. In 1981 a platoon from the 39th received the Presidential Unit citation for extraordinary Heroism. That was just one there were other but you see what I am saying. This is a well-researched booked and from the other books that I have read about this battle the best so far. A very good book. I got this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
June 6, 2024
Snow and Steel is a very very good book on the Battle of the Bulge, provided you have plenty of time to read it.
Caddick-Adams spends a third of the book on the lead up to the battle – not so much covering the campaign since D-Day (though in parts), but more the planning, logistics and Hitler’s motivations. Despite the delay in the action, it does provide important context for the aims, orders and results.
Snow and Steel is relatively complimentary of the performance of the Americans, perhaps correctly so! There were severe losses and Caddick-Adams covers the causes of that (along with certain German atrocities) in detail but keeps the wider context in view. American soldiers fought well from the start and, once they could call upon more firepower and airpower, dominated the battle though Caddick-Adams notes losses remained severe into February 1945. There is also an aftermath and assessments of the Battle of the Bulge, which appear relatively fair.
Some of the sourcing was interesting, notably David Irving, Tank Men by Robert Kershaw, and Belton Cooper. All have their issues, which Caddick-Adams expressly acknowledges in respect of Irving. However, the manner in which each source was used was defensible, generally avoiding the more controversial aspects for the harder facts (such as Cooper’s actual experiences at the Battle of the Bulge). It is also worth noting that the book’s publication date of 2014 felt a bit like a fulcrum to me upon which the views of American armour rotated 180 degrees. Snow and Steel is therefore slightly archaic on the rating of the Sherman versus German armour but it isn’t narrative derailing.
As per 1945, Caddick-Adams has a natural warmth to his writing. He has previous experiences in Bosnia and Iraq, personally interviewed a number of the participants over the years, and completed military exercises in the region. That does not necessarily make him the best person to write the book but it aids his style greatly.
April 9, 2023
Was a very good book! Went into such great detail and felt like I could imagine it and where they were the whole time. It gives a good perspective on both sides instead of just one side. It shows how much sacrifice the allies gave to fight for there land as they were getting pushed back and it also showed how much the German control was so blinded on their current situation. This was truly a generation that will never be forgotten!!!
November 5, 2025
Unfortunately I cannot thoroughly review the book due to a broken arm and limited mobility. However, I must say that the book is an extremely detailed analysis of the Battle of the Bulge and the individuals involved, from the leaders to the individual troops. It provides an extraordinary amount of information. I highly recommend the book to all who want to understand the battle from both sides of the conflict.
January 21, 2017
The British and American armies don't like each other much. We (I would be of the latter group) see the fall of Singapore in WWII as an example of an army that could have done more and didn't. You might title a book about this debacle, Churchill Wept, as meanwhile the Americans in the Philippines fought on. The Brits see the Battle of the Bulge as suggestive that America's fighting man is not quite what Americans would like to think he is. We see the failure to close the Falaise Gap in time to capture the German Army in the west in toto while the Brits drank tea a failure to seize the moment. And then there is the comment by the British Air Marshall (if memory serves) after the American Kasserine Pass defeat in North Africa that now the Brits had their own Italians to deal with. Eisenhower deserved a Medal of Honor for keeping this coalition alive.
Whenever a book is written about one army by an officer of the other, hair rises on the backs of necks. In this book the author does everything he can to dispel the idea that he brings prejudice with him in his inkwell. He congratulates individual American soldiers for their bravery and initiative. He finds reasons behind failures and wholesale unit surrender. He applauds the resiliency of the American army to regain itself in inglorious defeat and push the enemy back. But, he also notes that the quality of training the German soldier received was not top-notch, generally. The German army thrusting through the Ardennes that winter was made up in large part of German Naval and Air Force crews pressed into service without any infantry training at all. Most of the Americans had received at least ten weeks of infantry training even though as the battle began they were unbloodied and parked in harm's way because the Ardennes seemed to require the least skill, equipage or materiel. The Germans caught the Americans sleeping, literally. Command and control was the first victim. Yet the Americans fought and sometimes fought well. If only their lazy leadership had not betrayed them. But maybe that's why these officers were there, too. Maybe they were the least and the dimmest and the Ardennes seemed like a good place to hide them.
If you are not put off by Order of Battle (my old specialty in Army MI), the "Third Squad of Charlie Company of the 223rd Fusiliers of the 19th Light Infantry Regiment of the..." then this book is for you. Even if you can only tolerate reading shirt tags over and over, Caddick-Adams brings the battle to life in between. Is he prejudiced? Well, probably, just a wee bit. But it could be worse: Not once did he call us Italians.
Whenever a book is written about one army by an officer of the other, hair rises on the backs of necks. In this book the author does everything he can to dispel the idea that he brings prejudice with him in his inkwell. He congratulates individual American soldiers for their bravery and initiative. He finds reasons behind failures and wholesale unit surrender. He applauds the resiliency of the American army to regain itself in inglorious defeat and push the enemy back. But, he also notes that the quality of training the German soldier received was not top-notch, generally. The German army thrusting through the Ardennes that winter was made up in large part of German Naval and Air Force crews pressed into service without any infantry training at all. Most of the Americans had received at least ten weeks of infantry training even though as the battle began they were unbloodied and parked in harm's way because the Ardennes seemed to require the least skill, equipage or materiel. The Germans caught the Americans sleeping, literally. Command and control was the first victim. Yet the Americans fought and sometimes fought well. If only their lazy leadership had not betrayed them. But maybe that's why these officers were there, too. Maybe they were the least and the dimmest and the Ardennes seemed like a good place to hide them.
If you are not put off by Order of Battle (my old specialty in Army MI), the "Third Squad of Charlie Company of the 223rd Fusiliers of the 19th Light Infantry Regiment of the..." then this book is for you. Even if you can only tolerate reading shirt tags over and over, Caddick-Adams brings the battle to life in between. Is he prejudiced? Well, probably, just a wee bit. But it could be worse: Not once did he call us Italians.
April 5, 2015
Wow. This book took longer to read than the actual battle! Occasionally tedious but mostly an incredibly detailed history of an attack that has been portrayed as a brilliant stroke of tactical genius that was lost due to logistics but it turns out that it really was doomed to failure from the beginning. Hitler's gambit was kept so secret that the major players didn't have an opportunity to plan or conduct any reconnaissance before the battle! The Allies were still recovering from the debacle of Market-Garden and consolidating their front before the big push into Germany but had fallen into a complacency that almost handed the Ardennes to Hitler!
Caddick-Adams is an incredible historian who has plumbed the depths of history with anecdotal information from individuals who were involved in the battle: American, British, German, Belgian; soldiers and civilians; generals and privates.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII military history.
Caddick-Adams is an incredible historian who has plumbed the depths of history with anecdotal information from individuals who were involved in the battle: American, British, German, Belgian; soldiers and civilians; generals and privates.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII military history.
November 20, 2015
It's clear, reading Snow and Steel, that this account of World War II's Battle of the Bulge was a labor of love for the author. A meaty book that covers aspects rarely delivered by other histories, it's got all the details of troop movements and casualty statistics that numbers fiends would want. But Caddick-Adams doesn't forget the human element--the story in history--so his book is by turns humorous, horrifying, tense, inspiring, and heartbreaking. Its broad sweep makes for an excellent companion piece with something more specific like Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers. Definitely a worthwhile read for anyone interested in World War II specifically, or more generally the tactics, strategies, and impacts of a large-scale battle.
January 31, 2019
While the amount of research Caddick-Adams has put into this book is impressive, the narrative drifts from the point considerably at the book's beginning and end, and bounces somewhat confusingly through time and space in the recounting of the actual fighting. Throughout the book, minor (and often repeated) factual errors, typically told as asides, prove to be distracting.
February 25, 2021
It took me a while to get moving on this, but once I did, it was thoroughly enjoyable. Lots of detail, lots of supporting background, just a fabulous A to Z summary of everything you need to know. Highly recommend it........
June 13, 2025
Snow and Steel is a hard book to judge. On the one hand, Caddick Adams evidently knows his stuff, and has done a huge amount of research to underline the narrative, and he's got a good eye for an anecdote and a pithy turn of phrase. Equally, it's hard to avoid getting bogged down, especially in a conflict like the Ardennes because, by definition, it was confused, murky and granular.
That being said, the clarity which is so desperately needed isn't helped by the manner in which Caddick-Adams has written, which comes down to the selection of material, structure and thesis.
In the first instance, there's no doubt that Caddick-Adams knows a huge amount about the Ardennes and the wider conflict, but the decision to include a huge amount of this information quickly means the narrative gets lost in individual foxholes and a constant stream of unit designations which make it hard to keep track of what's going on. Equally, as much as sections on the lead-up and context of the battle are useful, the last fifty pages is about 40 too long, either in terms of providing an unnecessary narrative of the rest of the war which doesn't really connect to the Ardennes, or some frankly tangental points about war films and the Arab Israeli conflict which don't really serve a purpose.
Secondly, Caddick-Adam's structure again muddies the water. While it makes sense to identify the fact that the battle was, in fact, multiple different battles, the nature of jumping around between what arguably could have been three different books made it very hard to get an overarching picture of what was going on, or really to form a particular attachment or understanding to any individual experience across the whole conflict. Again, there's more than one way to skin a cat, but providing a structure that ran through a cycle of the macro to the micro in each phase and focused on a couple of players as an example could have been much clearer in understanding what was going on.
Finally, from a thesis/argument perspective, the book front-ends a huge amount of analysis and then seems to come to a conclusion almost before the action starts, which is that the Ardennes offensive ultimately was a desperate and doomed throw of the dice which only got as far as it did because of the allied disposition along the line and the weather which limited their ability to deploy sufficient air cover to neutralise the Nazi offensive earlier.
While this isn't a bad thesis, and indeed it's hard to come to any conclusion other than that, once it is established the second half of the book is just narrative which proves a point which arguably didn't need to be proved. One can't help wonder whether the structure couldn't have been changed to better extend the discussion across the entire book, or indeed whether a better question could or should have been asked to give a different slant on the question (so, for example, whether the allied response could have been better, or more generally what could be gleaned about the process of finishing off an enemy who is defeated but isn't willing to accept it - the equivalent of death bowling in cricket, so to speak).
All in all, it's a fine book in the style of a James Holland but without a degree of the discipline or clarity which tends to make a Holland or indeed a Hastings' narrative more easily digestible.
That being said, the clarity which is so desperately needed isn't helped by the manner in which Caddick-Adams has written, which comes down to the selection of material, structure and thesis.
In the first instance, there's no doubt that Caddick-Adams knows a huge amount about the Ardennes and the wider conflict, but the decision to include a huge amount of this information quickly means the narrative gets lost in individual foxholes and a constant stream of unit designations which make it hard to keep track of what's going on. Equally, as much as sections on the lead-up and context of the battle are useful, the last fifty pages is about 40 too long, either in terms of providing an unnecessary narrative of the rest of the war which doesn't really connect to the Ardennes, or some frankly tangental points about war films and the Arab Israeli conflict which don't really serve a purpose.
Secondly, Caddick-Adam's structure again muddies the water. While it makes sense to identify the fact that the battle was, in fact, multiple different battles, the nature of jumping around between what arguably could have been three different books made it very hard to get an overarching picture of what was going on, or really to form a particular attachment or understanding to any individual experience across the whole conflict. Again, there's more than one way to skin a cat, but providing a structure that ran through a cycle of the macro to the micro in each phase and focused on a couple of players as an example could have been much clearer in understanding what was going on.
Finally, from a thesis/argument perspective, the book front-ends a huge amount of analysis and then seems to come to a conclusion almost before the action starts, which is that the Ardennes offensive ultimately was a desperate and doomed throw of the dice which only got as far as it did because of the allied disposition along the line and the weather which limited their ability to deploy sufficient air cover to neutralise the Nazi offensive earlier.
While this isn't a bad thesis, and indeed it's hard to come to any conclusion other than that, once it is established the second half of the book is just narrative which proves a point which arguably didn't need to be proved. One can't help wonder whether the structure couldn't have been changed to better extend the discussion across the entire book, or indeed whether a better question could or should have been asked to give a different slant on the question (so, for example, whether the allied response could have been better, or more generally what could be gleaned about the process of finishing off an enemy who is defeated but isn't willing to accept it - the equivalent of death bowling in cricket, so to speak).
All in all, it's a fine book in the style of a James Holland but without a degree of the discipline or clarity which tends to make a Holland or indeed a Hastings' narrative more easily digestible.
June 29, 2025
This is the second Peter Caddick-Adams book I've read after 1945: Victory in the West. I enjoyed that slightly more than this. I'm not entirely sure why because this is equally well-written and researched.
I think it is because I sometimes struggle with military history once the battles start. I find it hard to picture what is happening. Perhaps for the same reasons I'm terrible at chess. But I now know more about the Bulge than I did, particularly since my previous knowledge was limited indeed and I think influenced by film and TV more than actual literature.
Caddick-Adams is very good on spending time explaining how the Germans - well, mainly Hitler - came to decide on the attack that became the Bulge but was meant to reach Antwerp and somehow cause a collapse in the Allies and get Germany back on the front foot. It is obvious - even to a military dimwit like me - that this was doomed to fail and the men thrown into this battle might have been better off resisting the Russians. I think most of Hitler's Generals knew it was foolish and Hitler by this point was delusional to the point of madness. It was a throw of the dice by an army that was out-gunned, out-air forced, out-fuelled, and out of options.
But as Caddick-Adams points out in the later chapters even if they had reached Antwerp the Allies would have taken it back. German supply lines would have been ridiculously extended and open to Allied Air attack. After all at this point, for all its flouncing about with Jets, the Luftwaffe was gone. The Allies had control of the air. Time was not on Germany's side.
So, this is an exercise in hubris. A last doomed and desperate act by Hitler that was fuelled by foolish hope and a total failure to understand the solidity of the Allied coalition.
Caddick-Adams makes a point that the Allies insistence on unconditional surrender made the Germans fight harder but what other option was there. The Germans after World War One had created a national illusion that because the Allies hadn't invaded Germany itself their defeat wasn't really a defeat. They were betrayed by their leaders. This stab in the back myth - assisted by Ludendorff and von Hindenberg trying to protect their own reputations - was one of the threads on which Nazism was built. The only option for the Allies in World War Two was to invade Germany and force a total surrender.
I've been listening to and reading a lot about the end of World War Two and the shear delusional - perhaps willingly - nature of both the Japanese and German leadership at the end of the war verges on insanity. The number of lives thrown away in foolhardy last stands is shocking.
But I'm rambling. Very enjoyable. I want to read Caddick-Adams's book on Normandy now.
I think it is because I sometimes struggle with military history once the battles start. I find it hard to picture what is happening. Perhaps for the same reasons I'm terrible at chess. But I now know more about the Bulge than I did, particularly since my previous knowledge was limited indeed and I think influenced by film and TV more than actual literature.
Caddick-Adams is very good on spending time explaining how the Germans - well, mainly Hitler - came to decide on the attack that became the Bulge but was meant to reach Antwerp and somehow cause a collapse in the Allies and get Germany back on the front foot. It is obvious - even to a military dimwit like me - that this was doomed to fail and the men thrown into this battle might have been better off resisting the Russians. I think most of Hitler's Generals knew it was foolish and Hitler by this point was delusional to the point of madness. It was a throw of the dice by an army that was out-gunned, out-air forced, out-fuelled, and out of options.
But as Caddick-Adams points out in the later chapters even if they had reached Antwerp the Allies would have taken it back. German supply lines would have been ridiculously extended and open to Allied Air attack. After all at this point, for all its flouncing about with Jets, the Luftwaffe was gone. The Allies had control of the air. Time was not on Germany's side.
So, this is an exercise in hubris. A last doomed and desperate act by Hitler that was fuelled by foolish hope and a total failure to understand the solidity of the Allied coalition.
Caddick-Adams makes a point that the Allies insistence on unconditional surrender made the Germans fight harder but what other option was there. The Germans after World War One had created a national illusion that because the Allies hadn't invaded Germany itself their defeat wasn't really a defeat. They were betrayed by their leaders. This stab in the back myth - assisted by Ludendorff and von Hindenberg trying to protect their own reputations - was one of the threads on which Nazism was built. The only option for the Allies in World War Two was to invade Germany and force a total surrender.
I've been listening to and reading a lot about the end of World War Two and the shear delusional - perhaps willingly - nature of both the Japanese and German leadership at the end of the war verges on insanity. The number of lives thrown away in foolhardy last stands is shocking.
But I'm rambling. Very enjoyable. I want to read Caddick-Adams's book on Normandy now.
January 6, 2024
Coincidiendo con la fecha de la Batalla de las Ardenas (16 de diciembre de 1944) acometo la lectura de una obra relacionada con la misma. Este año me incliné por el libro de Peter Caddick-Adams, del que había leído anteriormente su Montecassino y el libro sobre las operaciones militares en 1945.
El enfoque del libro es similar al de otros historiadores militares británicos (James Holland, por ejemplo), partiendo de la experiencia individual de un militar participante (usnado entrevistas, cartas o diarios) ir escalando y abriendo el zoom para comentar de forma amplia el tópico del capítulo correspondiente.
El libro abarca desde las primeros momentos de la concepción de la ofensiva alemana hasta el final de la batalla, extendiéndose hasta el final de la guerra en mayo de 1945; hay además un capítulo final adicional en el que el autor cono cuenta la vida posterior de muchos de sus protagonistas, tanto aliados como alemanes.
Temas del libro que me han llamado la atención y que no estaba al tanto:
Desde agosto de 1944 Hitler ya estaba ideando dar un golpe sorpresa a los aliados cuyo objetivo sería crear un ambiente en la opinión pública angloamericana para un final de la guerra negociado.
El lugar elegido no es casual, ya que en 1940 el principal golpe de las fuerzas panzer en la operación Case Yellow de invasión de Francia partió también de las Ardenas.
El fracaso de la operación se explica por la combinación de varios factores, entre ellos la escasa planificación y preparación de las fuerzas involucradas (en algunos casos las órdenes se dieron en al segunda semana de diciembre); la falta de suministros adecuados para alcanzar los ambiciosos objetivos marcas (llegar al puerto de Amberes y partir en dos el frente aliado); la correosa defensa (y sacrificio) de muchas unidades americanas ,que introdujo importantes retrasos en los avances previstos hizo imposible cumplir con el calendario de la operación desde el mismo día que se inició la misma; y una muy deficiente cadena de mando alemán que ya no tenía la misma flexibilidad y nivel de inciativa que mostró en el inicio de la guerra.
A ello se suma la abundancia de medios aliados, siendo claves la masiva presencia y excelente coordinación de la artillería y la aviación con el resto de unidades a partir del 23 de diciembre para parar a los atacantes.
El libro hace una revisión detallada de las fuerzas contendientes (aliadas y alemanas) y se organiza en capítulos que cubren los tres Ejércitos alemanas involucrados de sur a norte del campo de batalla, apoyado por una gran cantidad de útiles mapas para seguir la acción.
El enfoque del libro es similar al de otros historiadores militares británicos (James Holland, por ejemplo), partiendo de la experiencia individual de un militar participante (usnado entrevistas, cartas o diarios) ir escalando y abriendo el zoom para comentar de forma amplia el tópico del capítulo correspondiente.
El libro abarca desde las primeros momentos de la concepción de la ofensiva alemana hasta el final de la batalla, extendiéndose hasta el final de la guerra en mayo de 1945; hay además un capítulo final adicional en el que el autor cono cuenta la vida posterior de muchos de sus protagonistas, tanto aliados como alemanes.
Temas del libro que me han llamado la atención y que no estaba al tanto:
Desde agosto de 1944 Hitler ya estaba ideando dar un golpe sorpresa a los aliados cuyo objetivo sería crear un ambiente en la opinión pública angloamericana para un final de la guerra negociado.
El lugar elegido no es casual, ya que en 1940 el principal golpe de las fuerzas panzer en la operación Case Yellow de invasión de Francia partió también de las Ardenas.
El fracaso de la operación se explica por la combinación de varios factores, entre ellos la escasa planificación y preparación de las fuerzas involucradas (en algunos casos las órdenes se dieron en al segunda semana de diciembre); la falta de suministros adecuados para alcanzar los ambiciosos objetivos marcas (llegar al puerto de Amberes y partir en dos el frente aliado); la correosa defensa (y sacrificio) de muchas unidades americanas ,que introdujo importantes retrasos en los avances previstos hizo imposible cumplir con el calendario de la operación desde el mismo día que se inició la misma; y una muy deficiente cadena de mando alemán que ya no tenía la misma flexibilidad y nivel de inciativa que mostró en el inicio de la guerra.
A ello se suma la abundancia de medios aliados, siendo claves la masiva presencia y excelente coordinación de la artillería y la aviación con el resto de unidades a partir del 23 de diciembre para parar a los atacantes.
El libro hace una revisión detallada de las fuerzas contendientes (aliadas y alemanas) y se organiza en capítulos que cubren los tres Ejércitos alemanas involucrados de sur a norte del campo de batalla, apoyado por una gran cantidad de útiles mapas para seguir la acción.
January 5, 2023
Outstanding, so close to being a 5 star. What the author has done with this book is amazing, the interviews with combatants (from both sides) and the author's thorough examination of the physical battlefield really brings the battle of the bulge to life like no other book I've read. A bit of contradiction to a criticism I mention below but the amount of introduction we receive from the author on the divisions that fought in the bulge proved helpful later on when keeping track of specific units and their background.
His method of going chapter by chapter focusing on a certain division and their experience on that day (or number of days) was an interesting choice and executed admirably, however I would have preferred a chronological run through of the battle as opposed to division by division. This combined with the lack of maps means that the overall tactical situation of the campaign was difficult to follow for me. However, the author's writing and grasp of the operational level was 10/10.
One word of warning for perspective readers is that a sizable chunk of the book, 250 pages (200 pages for intro) largely deals with an intro to the bulge (with a thorough walk-through of each division involved in the initial campaign, their strength, commander etc.) and the aftermath of the bulge and the subsequent campaign into Germany (admittedly focusing on characters and units that fought in the bulge), while interesting information I didnt find these sections of the book to be a highlight.
An outstanding book that is definitely my go to book on the bulge going forward.
His method of going chapter by chapter focusing on a certain division and their experience on that day (or number of days) was an interesting choice and executed admirably, however I would have preferred a chronological run through of the battle as opposed to division by division. This combined with the lack of maps means that the overall tactical situation of the campaign was difficult to follow for me. However, the author's writing and grasp of the operational level was 10/10.
One word of warning for perspective readers is that a sizable chunk of the book, 250 pages (200 pages for intro) largely deals with an intro to the bulge (with a thorough walk-through of each division involved in the initial campaign, their strength, commander etc.) and the aftermath of the bulge and the subsequent campaign into Germany (admittedly focusing on characters and units that fought in the bulge), while interesting information I didnt find these sections of the book to be a highlight.
An outstanding book that is definitely my go to book on the bulge going forward.
September 7, 2021
Just finished this bear of a book today, but the way the author, Caddick-Adams, organized the material made it an easy ride. The Battle of the Bulge is a somewhat complicated battle that involves many different divisions, so having the material organized is a good way to explain the history of the battle.
You will get the details with this book, including the foundation as to why and how it took place. Hitler's psychology is somewhat explained as well, and that helped in figuring out why he planned what he did in his last thrust to attack the allies. I was hoping to get a little bit more about Patton and how he led his battle group to the bulge. As I said earlier, there is so much to unpack with this battle, and the author is forgiven on that point.
I like how Caddick-Adams tells you what battle group he is going to explore next and reminds of the material already covered. He even drops some famous writers in his story such as Hemingway, Vonnegut, etc. and how they experienced the Ardennes.
Ultimately, the book ends on the legacy of the battle, and how it has been impacted in the media. I really enjoyed one of the final chapters entitled, "The Punctuations of History." This book is well worth your investment of time if you want to gain a deeper insight into this most important battle of World War II, and how it was fought.
You will get the details with this book, including the foundation as to why and how it took place. Hitler's psychology is somewhat explained as well, and that helped in figuring out why he planned what he did in his last thrust to attack the allies. I was hoping to get a little bit more about Patton and how he led his battle group to the bulge. As I said earlier, there is so much to unpack with this battle, and the author is forgiven on that point.
I like how Caddick-Adams tells you what battle group he is going to explore next and reminds of the material already covered. He even drops some famous writers in his story such as Hemingway, Vonnegut, etc. and how they experienced the Ardennes.
Ultimately, the book ends on the legacy of the battle, and how it has been impacted in the media. I really enjoyed one of the final chapters entitled, "The Punctuations of History." This book is well worth your investment of time if you want to gain a deeper insight into this most important battle of World War II, and how it was fought.
May 14, 2020
If you only read one book on The Battle of the Bulge then this is the one to read. Author Peter Caddick-Adams has written an excellent account of the battle.
The book can be considered as being in three parts: events leading up to the battle, the actual battle, and then post battle events. The chapters leading up to the battle were particularly interesting, most books spend just a few chapters describing the events, in this book he spends several chapters. He goes into great details describing not just the tactical and political situation but also the psychology of Hitler and his thinking behind the operation.
Throughout the book the author interjects his thoughts on how events during the battle reflects situations he experienced while serving as a British officer on operations. These helped add personality to the already interesting story.
As you can probably tell I recommend this book to anyone that is interested in military history, just be warned it is a long book, needs to be as the author put a lot of information into it.
The book can be considered as being in three parts: events leading up to the battle, the actual battle, and then post battle events. The chapters leading up to the battle were particularly interesting, most books spend just a few chapters describing the events, in this book he spends several chapters. He goes into great details describing not just the tactical and political situation but also the psychology of Hitler and his thinking behind the operation.
Throughout the book the author interjects his thoughts on how events during the battle reflects situations he experienced while serving as a British officer on operations. These helped add personality to the already interesting story.
As you can probably tell I recommend this book to anyone that is interested in military history, just be warned it is a long book, needs to be as the author put a lot of information into it.
August 12, 2024
Not a bad account of the battle, and there are a load of interesting stories in there connected to personalities involved in the battle. However the writing style was a bit difficult. The author meanders into side stories which are often too longwinded and detract from more interesting elements. There are also bits in the book such as photos with captions, but the captions are a word for word copy from the text of the book itself.
Overall, a well researched chronology with some really interesting stories which I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. However the book for me was let down by some poor editing and longwinded writing. I feel like it could have been a hundred pages shorter without losing anything.
Overall, a well researched chronology with some really interesting stories which I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. However the book for me was let down by some poor editing and longwinded writing. I feel like it could have been a hundred pages shorter without losing anything.
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