The Battle of the Huertgen Forest

There was a great deal of detail about troop placements and maneuvers but lacked eyewitness accounts and experiences. Seemed like a general behind the lines describing the battle rather than someone going through the battle. I am sure it was very accurate but was missing the sense of someone there. Did not finish the book.

This helps to establish the timelines between Market Garden to the Battle of the Bulge. It was a terrible unnecessary battle and so little land was conquered in comparison to lives lost. Germany gained their desired outcome leading to the Bulge and the allies depleted their ranks leaving them vulnerable to the counter offensive. A very sad but important part of the Western European Allied campaign to defeat Nazi Germany.

Good descriptions of one of the bloodiest parts of the post D-day drive to Germany. It is particularly clear that a large portion of the blame for the level of bloodshed lies at the feet of poor generalship on the part of the Americans; instead of concentrating their power they fed soldiers piecemeal into an unnecessary battle on terrain that didn't lend itself to proper persecution of modern warfare.

I read this book on my kindle; the maps were unreadable. This was unfortunate, because it became a major chore to develop and maintain a mental picture of how the various parts of the battle interrelated in space and time. I tried correlating the text with the modern Google maps coverage of the area; not a lot of place names remain from 1944 on the current map.

Interesting how hind sight is 20-20. Being a former soldier we sometimes do things the hard way. Thus, the struggle to gain control of the forest instead of the dams. I found this to be a very good read reflecting the struggles of the everyday ground soldier in his attempts to follow orders.

This is a very good easy to read history about the longest battle the US Army fought in Europe in WWII. The conversion to the electronic version is lacking in attention to detail. For example there are numerous places where the “Kali” River is referred to. The Kali River is in India. I believe the book is trying to refer to the Kall River which was central to the battle. As a result the reader can easily lose the continuity of what is otherwise a good book. To the folks that converted this book to an ebook....a little more attention to detail please.

Having been in the military for over 25 years, I can see how so many stupid mistakes can be made just to prove something. The two worse things about the forest fighting is that the Allies should have known that it was well fortified, and tanks are almost worthless without room to move around, so they should have coordinated the airforce and the ground forces more closely. In the Pacific we did that just a little better with much less lose of life. Of course the worse part of wars is we are crucified if we kill a civilian even accidentally.

Almost no individual stories. Lots of "This divison went towards this and that one moved east, etc" It was very dry (and I LOVE WWII stuff).
I printed a map to follow everything, but it wasn't that good.

This has interesting information but is dryly written. It gives an overview of why the battle took place when there is no apparent military objective but was fought at great cost. The kindle version had maps in the back, which is hard to navigate on a kindle reader. Some stories from the enlisted man's perspective might have made it more interesting.

A well written historical record of one of the bloodiest battles fought during WWII. The book goes into a lot of details, skirmishes, and events. Not as many personal accounts or stories I would have liked to learn about.

My disappointment is more a matter of preference than the quality of this author's work.
The book is well written,but focused more on unit tactical matters.
I was looking for more individual participant perspectives.

The late Charles B MacDonald served as an officer of infantry in World War II and later became a civilian historian in the U.S. Army's historical division. His memoir, _Company Commander_ has enjoyed classic status. He also contributed three volumes to the Official History of the U.S. Army in World War II, commonly known as the "Green Books." This work, first published in 1963, still holds a valued place in World War II historiography.Although such recent authors as Gerald Astor (The Bloody Forest, 2000), Edward G. Miller (A Dark and Bloody Ground, 1995) and Robert Sterling Rush (Hell in Hurtgen Forest, 2001) have contributed new studies that take advantage of the latest sources, they all owe a debt of gratitude to MacDonald. MacDonald was the first to argue that the American planners failed to appreciate the importance of the Roer River dams as a primary objective of the Huertgen Forest campaign. He was also the first to state the Huertgen Forest was a wasteful squander of American lives and should have been avoided. Again, he was the first to criticize the American leadership for not fully comprehending the detrimental affects of the rugged terrain, the staunch German defence, and the harsh weather conditions that was indicative of the slaughter in the Huertgen Forest. These three basic themes would provide a basis for Astor, Miller, Rush, and others attempting to provide any future analysis of the campaign. MacDonald places the initial probes into the forest in September, 1944; the failure of the 9th Division in October; the decimation of the 28th Division in early November; and the final breakout in late November in overall perspective. MacDonald also provides a summation of Eisenhower's "broad-front strategy", a wide sweeping advance into the enemy's heartland, coupled with a strategy of annihilation, that of destroying the enemy and his ability to wage war. With this overall strategy in mind, what then was to be done with the Huertgen Forest? How were the Roer River dams to be captured when the heavily fortified town of Schmidt, and the better roads it provided for German armor and infantry, was continually denied to one American division after another? MacDonald does not tell us, nor, for that matter, does Astor, Miller, or Rush. The mistakes of generals are oftentimes evident; alternative solutions come harder.Yet, as a comprehensive narrative of the Huertgen Forest campaign, MacDonalds book was, and still is a solid foundation from which to build insight into what is perhaps the most difficult and bloody campaign in American Military history. A must for anyone interested in this terrible fight.

The horrifying story of a killing battle in Germany as the Americans tried to break through the German lines. The mistakes made by the high command cost untold suffering which did not end until the Battle of the Bulge campaign started.

I especially like the insight offered in illustrated histories and was disappointed when the sample I received of this book had only one not-so-great map, leaving the impression Kindle doesn't provide the illustrations for this interesting info.

Unlike many authors who write about combat MacDonald was there. When you read his stories, you are seeing it through his eyes. Even when he is writing about events where he wasn't present, he still gives the reader a feeling of being there. When he is describing a fiasco like the actions to take the Huertgen Forest he makes you "feel" for the common soldier and doubt the competence of the senior commanders. If you see a book written by Charles MacDonald, buy it!

Charles MacDonald covers a lot of the same ground in "Siegfried Line" and "Three Battles", and those books have nicer maps. This book has the advantage of focusing on the Forest only (up to the Battle of the Bulge), and is fair and readable in the typical MacDonald style. For what the book is meant to be (i.e. popular history), it's superb. Other sources will have more detailed descriptions of certain battles and better maps.

As a professional military officer, I found this work interesting and full of great details. I caution readers that are not familiar with the military to understand that this book may be dry or difficult to understand. I am a huge fan of Mr. McDonald and referenced his other work "Company Commander" while I was in command of a company myself. Informative, opinionated, and solid are the words I use to describe this book.

This book is a tough read. It drips with research but it belabors the story with information that makes it very,very difficult to follow what happened in this horrible battle. The author for example lists units and military commanders giving credit to everyone and his brother down to a gnat's rump for line after line til you loose the thread of what the heck is happening. Things like Lt.Colonel Smith of the 3rd Infantry,2nd Regiment,4th Battalion, Company C talked to Major Jones of the 23rd Armored Divison, 2nd Battalion, Task Force Williams,F Squad about the shortage of toilet paper. Why not just say there was a shortage of toilet paper and get on with the story. This style of writing, tho flaterring to the people whose names are listed, is agony to read. It is more of a text book than an exciting retelling of what happened.