Book description
The River Rhine and its delta in Holland, protecting Germany's
vital industrial area of the Ruhr, helped dictate the course of events
in three land campaigns of the Second World War. Some towns and
bridges were so important that they were fought over two or even three
times in the space of five years. There were three battles for Arnhem,
not one, involving the armies of four different nations. In covering
for the first time all three campaigns, the author is able to put the
most famous of these battles in perspective, as a text-book example of
how not to handle airborne forces. The final campaign in the spring of
1945 saw the crossing of the historic German Rhine on a long front
from Strasbourg to Emmerich by American, French, British and Canadian
troops. The book is based on copious documentation, much of it
contemporary and unpublished, and includes many vivid narratives by
'key' witnesses. We share the feelings of German paratroopers, the
'It's suicide' reaction of the Guards tank crews, and the stunning
effect on the American soldiers as Remagen Bridge collapses behind them.
Alexander McKee began his writing career with the British Forces
Network in Germany during the late 1940s. During a career spanning
nearly fifty years he published 25 books, mostly on aspects of
military history and many are regarded as outstanding in their field.
He specialised in recording the personal accounts of eye-witnesses on
both sides. Caen: Anvil of Victory, The Devil's Tinderbox: Dresden
1945 and The Race for the Rhine Bridges 1940, 1944, 1945 are notable
examples. Alexander McKee became internationally famous for his
discovery of King Henry VIII's flagship Mary Rose for which he was
awarded the OBE. His book on the subject, How We Found the Mary Rose,
became a best-seller.
