The Last Ridge: The Epic Story of America's First Mountain Soldiers and the Assault on Hitler's Europe

by McKay Jenkins

When World War II broke out in Europe, the American army had no specialized division of mountain soldiers. But in the winter of 1939–40, after a tiny band of Finnish mountain troops brought the invading Soviet army to its knees, an amateur skier named Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole convinced the United States Army to let him recruit an extraordinary assortment of European expatriates, wealthy ski bums, mountaineers, and thrill-seekers and form them into a unique band of Alpine soldiers. These men endured nearly three years of grueling training in the Colorado Rockies and in the process set new standards for both soldiering and mountaineering. The newly forged 10th Mountain Division finally faced combat in the winter of 1945, in Italy’s Apennine Mountains, against the seemingly unbreakable German fortifications north of the Gothic Line. There, they planned and executed what is still regarded as the most daring series of nighttime mountain attacks in U.S. military history, taking Mount Belvedere and the sheer, treacherous face of Riva Ridge to smash the linchpin of the German army’s lines.

Drawing on unique cooperation from veterans of the 10th Mountain Division and a vast archive of unpublished letters and documents, The Last Ridge is written with enormous warmth, energy, and honesty. This is one of the most captivating stories of World War II, a blend of Band of Brothers and Into Thin Air . It is a story of young men asked to do the impossible, and succeeding.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, War, Military Fiction, Military History, American History

336 pages, Paperback

First published August 26, 2003

Reviews

[Jerome Otte · Rating 3 out of 5]

A serviceable, well-researched and clearly written work.

Jenkins describes how the division was recruited, how rigorous and absurd the training was, its deployment during the Aleutian and Italian campaigns, and how the soldiers faced the elements. Jenkins also covers how the unit ended up spending most of the war stateside and how the army bureaucracy was resistant to the idea of a mountain unit until the War Department felt that the worst outcome was just another army division, and gave the go-ahead.

The extent of the unit’s action was limited but bloody, and the division quickly destroyed the Germans’ daunting mountain defenses (even though its mountain gear was left stateside). The original unit was deactivated after the war, but its commander wasn’t too upset, since he knew it would have become just another infantry division anyway. Jenkins also describes how the unit attracted everybody from business executives to anti-Nazi exiles who loved the outdoors.

There is little on the division’s impact on the ski industry, and the narrative is not as compelling as you might expect, although the pace does pick up when it gets to operations in Italy.

A broad, interesting work.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really well-told story of a new, special kind of soldier during the Second World War. Some of the battle episodes can be a little hard to keep up with, with this company going this way and that one another way, but overall one would be hard-pressed to find a better account of the 10th Mountain Division's contributions to the Italian campaign.

[Jay Resnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

As my Dad,Elton Resnick, trained at Camp Hale, and was a doctor in the 10th Mountain Division, I had heard from him about combat in the Aleutians and Italy. When I asked my Dad about the worst memory in WWII, he told me about the invasion of Kiska on the fog, and how wrenching it was to treat wounds inflicted by "friendly fire." McKay's book puts my Dad's experience. -- both in Kiska and in Italy -- in historical perspective. Jenkins weaves many stories together. --- piecing together diaries, letters and interviews. -- into a cogent, if sometimes jumpy, narrative that tells the story of the formation, training, and combat of the 10th. The epilogue explains cogently how its reputation was made , then validated. Dad was part of something spectacular.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Call it what you will — literary journalism, military history, narrative nonfiction — The Last Ridge is just damned good storytelling.

Jenkins' depiction of the formation, training, and war efforts of the 10th Mountain Division will appeal to readers of military history and American environmental history alike. "It is not too much to say that the conservation and exploration of American wilderness are as much a part of the division's history as its contribution to the war," in Jenkins' words. The men who formed the division and those who served in it played central roles in American ski culture and wilderness rescue, in addition to changing the U.S. military.

Even if wilderness adventure and tales of military daring are not your cups of tea, you will want to read The Last Ridge if you appreciate John McPhee's crafting of compelling characters from seemingly ordinary people and his unassuming prose style. Jenkins combines the best of McPhee with the spiritual sensitivity of Peter Matthiessen. Stuart Abbott, a minor character in The Last Ridge, reminded me of Matthiessen in The Snow Leopard, searching for truth in nature amid a storm of suffering.

Landscape is the most compelling character in The Last Ridge, though. It preys upon the unwary and unprepared, and it defends those who respect its power. The Germans had studied their local landscape for generations; they knew the advantages it afforded. Without Minnie Dole's persistence and the 10th Mountain Division's valor, Jenkins asserts, the landscape may have favored the Germans. In that case, fascism would have been as immovable as Riva Ridge.

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half of the book that was devoted to the forming of the 10th Mountain Division, the recruits sought after, and the training they engaged in was fairly interesting. The writing style was choppy and often disjointed but my interest in the subject material was high which kept me going.

The second half of the book was absolutely dismal. Stephen Ambrose was the master at weaving together the soldier's individual story with the wider tactical and strategic picture of the war. Jenkins' erratic hopping from one man's experience in battle to another's was nearly as bad as his inability to coherently lay out a tactical progression of battle, not aided by his poor and infrequent maps. His anecdotal renditions of "history", coupled with such inaccuracies as listing a major as a battalion commander and a lieutenant colonel as the XO, made me very skeptical of the accuracy of his work.

Nearing the end of the book I read the author's bio and saw he was originally a journalist by trade which to me explains the loose historical feel. Even this I might have been able to get past, but the writing style did not work for me at all.

If you are interested in a history of the 10th Mountain Division I would recommend "The Ski Troops" by Hal Burton, which while equally unfulfilling in regards to the combat history of the unit, is a much more coherent piece of work with a stronger passion around the formation of the Division.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating aspect of WWII that I had only had glimpses of in previous reading. Grueling training, arduous missions. Well-researched and well-paced. True Adventure.

[Stewart Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love this book; historical, tragic, dramatic, adventurous and inspiring. I may be biased though, being that I served with the 10th ;-)

[Story Pennock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the sort of book to binge read. Read a little of it for two days and then put it down for about seven and then finished the rest in a few hours.

Though the true story is remarkable, it wouldn’t have been half as enjoyable to read without a good storyteller. It’s the first book I’ve read since All’s Quiet on the Western Front that struck me with how horrible war is for not just the civilians caught up in it, but the people fighting it. From diary entries to firsthand accounts of the carnage on the battlefield, The Last Ridge drove home the point of how much our American soldiers sacrifice when they sign up to defend our country. I haven’t heard of or read any other books about American soldiers that even come close.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book that was written by Dennis Nunan to his parents in a letter while fighting in the Italian Apennine mountains.

“War spares nothing. The isolated hamlets, with walls of stone feet thick, make fortresses for the enemy to gather strength within and strike out to kill. The village churches make ideal observation points so the enemy can watch your every move and direct death against you. The little home with its red tile roof, white walls and blue door is hiding an 88 that will blast your foxhole by night. Now; instead of rebelling within at the sight of seemingly wanton destruction, we beg artillery and air corps to lay waste to even the innocent structure- even thought it may be melllowed by centuries of laughter, the smoke of thousands of fiesta cook fires, the love of generation upon generation of family happiness. War knows no love, race or creed- on ly the desire to live. Even I have begged the air corps to lay waste to a church steeple as the 88s were crashing too near my foxhole for comfort. So you see mother and daddy, in my short time in combat my heart has hardened and my soul grown bitter. I have killed and I shall continue to do such without flinching until peace comes to the world of war.” - (the last ridge, 147)

[jamjack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Because of my limited knowledge of what the 10th were actually tasked with, I expected a bit more. The first half was a bore and the second half had little sustenance. But not tryung to take anything away from the incredible accomplishments of these brave men.

[Josh Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many other reviews have complained that McKay Jenkins is not Stephen Ambrose. This is true, he’s not. But what writer is?
So many other reviews have complained that the entire first half of this book is devoted to the 10th’s pre-Italy exploits. This is true. But, the reality is that the 10th existed for 2.5 years before deploying to Italy whereupon they only spent a scant FOUR months. In proportion to their entire WWII existence, 1/2 of the book devoted to those 4 months in Italy is generous. Furthermore, these reviewers are missing the entire point of the story of the 10th: they were precisely the elite group of soldiers they were BECAUSE of their unique formation and exceptionally lengthy training. It is these very circumstances that make 10th unique and this their story special. And Jenkins does an excellent job conveying that very message to the readers.

If a reader wants a WWII story with little to no time dedicated to the unit’s formation and training, I recommend “The Ghost Mountain Boys” by James Campbell. It is equally a great read but depicts the exact opposite experience as that of the 10th. It’s the story of 32nd Division which was deployed without any specialized training or gear and with its leaders all too eager to throw them straight into the fray of battle untested. Interestingly, the 32nd Division was the first Division deployed after Pearl Harbor. And can you guess which division was the very last to deploy after Pearl Harbor? That’s right, the 10th. Juxtaposing the experience and characteristics of these 2 divisions is a great history lesson. And both books are excellent reads.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good book about a very good World War II U.S. Army Infantry Division. I picked this book up from the bookstore because I recently moved to Colorado, and the 10th Mountain Division did most of their pre-deployment training in the mountains of Colorado. This book was particularly good for the insights that it gave into the training of elite mountain troops, the development of equipment and techniques that are necessary for mountain survival that are still used today, and then how many of the members of this division went on to found the ski industry in the U.S. after the war. The battlefield descriptions of this unit's actions in the Italian Theater were also very good, and gave valuable insight into what is often a neglected theater in World War II.

[Dave Robbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the development of the 10th Mountain Division their conquests in WWII. I love skiing and mountaineering and this story is pretty amazing - recreational skiers as the backbone of a new army division and then returning home to help found more recreational ski areas.

[Dave Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite "Band of Brothers", but purposeful, sometimes personal account of the formation of the famed 10th Mountain Division. The early glamor cascading into the horror of war. Worth the price for the Riva Ridge/Mt. Belvedere chapters alone. Recommended. We honor our fallen.

[David L Nicholson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Story

Extremely interesting with amazing details yet very readable. Reads a bit like a Ken Burns documentary. Always shocked at the human cost to win WW2.

[Kyle Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

My father learned to ski in the Tenth Mountain Division and in the 1950s he went on to develop, with a group of volunteers, the Pajarito Mountain ski area west of Los Alamos, New Mexico. But it was at Camp Hale where he learned to ski and developed a life-long passion for the sport, including helicopter skiing in Canada in his later years. We often drove between Leadville and Minturn during the winter (Independence Pass is closed in winter) and he would point out the location of Camp Hale but never spoke much about his experiences there. Aspen was a fun place to go to ski (this was before Vail and all the other now-popular ski areas were developed). I always wondered about his training at Camp Hale and have toured the ski museum at Vail, where there is quite a bit of information about the Tenth Mountain Division; I have also been to several of the Tenth Mountain huts west of Leadville in the summertime for hiking. I recently ran across two books about the Tenth Mountain Division and have read them both. They provided some of the details my father never filled in. For instance, I was always curious about why he didn’t end up in combat in Italy; this book didn’t answer the question but it gave me some perspective on why not everyone who trained at Camp Hale went to Italy to fight at Riva Ridge. He ended up in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was injured and received a purple heart. I don’t know if he was part of the invasion of Kiska in Alaska but the description of the fog and the cold, damp weather was one of the worst parts of their training. If you have ever been to this area of Colorado in the brutal cold of winter, or tried to hike uphill at high altitude, you have some appreciation for the hardship these men endured. I wish I had learned more directly from my father, but this book provides a lot of information about what his experience may have been like.

[Barry Davidoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent unit history of the Tenth Mountain Division from its formation to the end of World War II. The book is well written and researched. Jenkins is one of the few authors that can combine the strategic goals of a battle with company and battalion sized engagements.
The Tenth Mountain originally was composed of skiers and outdoors men. It trained in Colorado at 12000 feet to provide snow and mountaineering skills. The first part of the book describes the training and that is had a high number of Europeans whose skiing and mountaineering skills were extremely useful.
The Tenth Mountain was an important part of the Fifth Army's drive through the mountainous terrain of Italy. Ironically although the division had expert skiers it never had a battle where skiing was needed. However they climbed hills and attacked during day and night using their mountaineering skills. An engineer company of the division built a 1500 foot tramway for evacuating the wounded and hauling supplies.
One of the division's most famous soldiers was Sen, Robert Dole who as a young officer was badly wounded in Italy. He was heroic that day and in his recovery which took many years. Jenkins description of his actions is inspiring.
The book is one of the better division histories written about World War II. It is a good companion to the book "The Force" about the First Special Forces which also fought in Italy.

[Ken Burkhalter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 10th Mountain Division is a storied unit of today's Army. This work tells the story of its beginning. The epilogue says all you need to know about the book itself: three years of training and four months of fighting. If you are interested in mountaineering in the early twentieth century, the unit's formation and the Army's lack of understanding and appreciation of the unit's unique skillsets and character, and the glorification of the unit for war time PR purposes, then this one is for you. If, however, you are looking for a work that focuses on the unit's campaign in Italy then maybe not. It does get there, finally, and the story is well told. But the primary focus of this book is not the war itself.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not much of a history or war buff, but we got this book because we have seen memorials to the 10th Mountain Division on Mt. Washington (NH) and at Ski Cooper in Leadville (CO). We have also seen and climbed in Camp Hale where the troops trained, which is awe inspiring. They were an innovative and dedicated group of men, and many quite famous people were part of the Division. This book gives many details of their training, and their deployment in Italy 1945. It is very moving. My only request would have been a more complete map of Italy so I could have followed their battle movements more sensibly. Highly recommend this read about a little known chapter.

[Scott Haese · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 Star for someone interested in military history, perhaps a 3-4 Star otherwise. Book highlights the role of several prominent soldiers; for my part read to learn about my great uncle who trained at Camp Hale and perished on Mt Della Torraccia in February toward the end of the Italian Campaign. He wouldn't be mentioned as so often history is recorded by the victorious survivors, not a deferential farm boy from Wisconsin. Thank you PFC Ruben Westphal for your sacrifice, I'll be sharing your story with our family. Reading the history of the unit was fascinating and enlightening. Thank you also Mr. Jenkins.

[Preston DuBose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I did. It wasn't for lack of research on the author's part. It's clearly well researched (based on the numerous footnotes) and filled with anecdotes from the soldiers themselves. The subject matter was absolutely fascinating. The reason I'm only giving it three stars is because the lead-up to their time in Italy takes up more than half the book. It's interesting stuff, but not as interesting as what followed in Italy.

[A.j. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is well written but I preferred the first few chapters more than the later ones. The beginning was more personable and explained how and why the division was created. Once the troops shipped out to Italy it became more of a history lesson of how each battle went down. The author tried to make it more personal by including individual accounts of battles but it became more like reading a report than a narrative.

[Tim Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a deeply researched book and it was clear a lot of effort and ability was poured in to it. That said, the actual combat chronicle of the division doesn’t come until about 2/3 through the book. Prior to that I found the narrative cumbersome and slowly paced. The formation, selection and training was enlightening but maybe a bit too deeply retold. Once the division’s combat action came along the history was well told and compelling.

[Mike Fedewa · Rating 4 out of 5]

LInda heard a discussion of this book on NPR. We listened to it as we drove home from our winter trip to Alabama. It was not what she/we expected, and definitely not the sort of book we usually listen to. But it was quite excellent. Such a history of the battle for Italy as World War II was coming to an end. The book was brutal. Well written. Such a slaughter. So many young men, and civilian casualties. So much life destroyed. Lord have mercy.

[Robert Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York has a history in our American landscape from World War 2, the mountain terrain, fighting and ski skills which has affected would be mountaineers across the United States to become familiar with the mountains. The late Senator Bob Dole and numerous others are mentioned in this journal narrative. The bravery of the 10th Mountain Division lives in the American narrative even today.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book.

Despite spending many years studying World War 2, my knowledge on the 10th Mountain was limited. I actually think my main exposure to it was from Black Hawk Down, and its role in that film.

I was captivated by the tales of their training, their extensive specialization leading into waiting and waiting to be called to service ... and then the brutal cost of fighting in the Apennine Mountains.

[Chris Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

great story telling

I enjoyed reading about the fighting in Italy during WWII. I did not know much about this part of the war & enjoyed learning about it through the eyes of the men who participated. The personal accounts of the men who were there made for great story telling. Well researched.

[Jayme Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book. It was great learning about the history of the 10th mountain division. The book was very Army. I felt like I was among the soldiers with an understanding from the ground level. Might be a bit much to someone without military background though.

[Shaun Putaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done...

Very interesting and easy to read history of the mountain division’s training for, and involvement in, the Second World War. Really enjoyed how the author told some individual stories of the soldiers which really humanized the history.

[Steve Loftis · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many hero's so many sacrifices

This book needs to be read by all young Americans, this was our finest hour, we need to understand that ordinary people can be so exordinary when they believe

[Mary Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book interested me especially since a relative of mine was a member of the 10th mountain division. Hard to get through at times because of the details, I still found it compelling and informative of a part of history which previously I knew nothing about.