A Bridge Too Far

Like The Longest Day before it, A Bridge Too Far reads like a novel at times. It isn't a dry regurgitation of names, dates, places and statistics. Like The Longest Day the reader gets to know key players in a personal, almost intimate manner. They become more than names of historical significance. The violent battles become real with the ugly sights and sounds of war. This is largely in part due to Ryan's first hand interviews with witnesses: the veterans and townspeople alike; anyone right in the thick of the action. What sets Ryan's books apart is that he was given exclusive access to documents that others had only heard about. The confirms and clarifies the history books.
A Bridge Too Far details the failed Market-Garden Operation. show more Their mission was to seize five major bridges in Belgium, France and Germany. Market was the "from air" attack and Garden was the ground portion of the offensive. After many weather related delays the operation lasted from September 17th to the 24th, 1944. This imaginative battle plan was supposed to be the Allied answer to end the war. Only it didn't turn out that way.
As an aside, it's easy to see how Ryan's books all transitioned easily to the big screen. show less

Having watched the movie version countless times. I deferred reading the book for far too long. It is a great reading experience about a campaign doomed from the start. The Allies, overwhelmed by their successful breakout from Normandy, failed to develop their logistics to sustain their operations. Instead of liberating the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam, the Allies dreamed of a Rhine crossing, which as the book title implies was "a bridge too far" and a step too soon. The Allied command had these shiny unused airborne divisions, it wanted to use. Use them, even abuse them, they did. The British Airborne division charged with capturing and holding the Arnhem bridge paid the hardest for their leader's sloppy planning and lack of show more curiosity. The main point of failure, however, did not concern the airborne operations but the nonchalant way the extremely difficult lateral movement of the ground forces over a single exposed road was treated. No leeway or plan B existed, setting the operation up for failure. The reeling Germans gladly exploited the Allied mistake which wrecked the airborne divisions and postponed the liberation of the Netherlands until the war was nearly over.

Born a British subject before Ireland's independence, Ryan spent WWII as a war correspondent. After the war, he settled in the United States and became a citizen. Author of the equally famous "The Longest Day", he died shortly after the completion of this book in 1974, never having a chance to see the film. Ryan's campaign accounts have a bit of a sport reporting flair, showing both sides in a too noble a light. While he does describe some of the hellish aspects of war, he quickly moves on to the boys' accomplishments, underplaying the horrors of war (which makes it perfect for Hollywood). Highly recommended. show less

Having previously read Cornelius Ryan's other books The Longest Day and The Last Battle (as well as a lot of other World War II history), I didn't expect to find this one particularly interesting. I mean, how could some operation called Market Garden I'd never even heard of possibly compare to the D-Day invasion of Normandy or the fall of Berlin and final collapse of the Nazi regime?

I was pleasantly surprised.

As always, of course, Ryan is a brilliant storyteller, and this story turned out to be no less gripping than his others. The Market portion of the operation was the largest airborne invasion in history as tens of thousands of allied troops were dropped over Holland by parachute or glider. Their mission was to seize and hold several show more key bridges for advancing ground forces, the Garden portion of the operation, culminating in a bridge at Arnhem whose successful capture would allow the Allies to cross the Rhine and sweep into Germany, potentially ending the war in Europe in 1944.

Since that obviously didn't happen, you know from the start that the operation did not succeed. But the story of the airborne divisions' incredibly heroic efforts (particularly at Arnhem), whose mission to hold their bridges for two or at most four days got dragged out into nine as subsequent airdrops to reinforce and resupply them kept getting delayed and cancelled as weather did not permit their takeoff and ground forces failed to make the rapid progress they were supposed to, is inspiring despite the tragedy of their ultimately useless sacrifice. Ryan does a superb job of vividly capturing both the heroism and the tragedy. Now I want to see the movie!

http://www.amazon.com/review/R3QOR4338N6KHD show less

This is one of the best history books I have ever read. It covers in extensive, interesting detail and precision Operation Market-Garden, the massive armor and paratroop attack in Holland in 1944. The operation was an ambitious attempt to bypass the German front lines and swing around the Siegfried Line in 2 days - which actually took 9 days. The book details the events before the attack, the plans for the attack, and the results. Over 400 people were interviewed for the book as well as extensive research. It is thorough, comprehensive and well written. As it was written in 1974, the author had the great advantage of being able to personally interview many of the principals who survived. It was interesting to read and did a great job of show more honoring the paratroopers who held on through the disaster that it eventually became. The Dutch civilians and resistance are included as well, which really makes it complete. show less

I thought this book was magnificent. I was originally thrown off by the details of the civilians involved in the battle. Just wanted the military action. After a while, i began to like it a bit more. Mr Ryan does a good job covering the campaign from the squad level to theater level, and I really like the stories of the common soldier.

A tremendous book. Wonderful movement between the big picture and the personal details. The details of personal experiences in war are worth reading again and again.

This is the rugged, true and tragic history of Operation: Marketgarden. Mr. Ryan does a grand job of introducing us to the men involved in this operation, from the generals down to the cooks. The only trouble is that this is the largest operation of World War II and there are just too darn many of them to keep straight. So you just have to slog forward (somewhat like they did) and trust in the author. With that in mind, you are treated to the grand sweep of the plan, the infeasibility of key parts of it and the personal cost and valor involved in attempting it. Good maps and photos, too.