⋙ Read A Time for Trumpets The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge Charles B MacDonald 9780688151577 Books

A Time for Trumpets The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge Charles B MacDonald 9780688151577 Books

Download As PDF : A Time for Trumpets The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge Charles B MacDonald 9780688151577 Books

A Time for Trumpets The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge Charles B MacDonald 9780688151577 Books

Absolutely the best book ever written on the "Battle Of The Bulge". Macdonald is a military Historian Par Excellence. A must read and a book that can not be put down.


Tags : A Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge [Charles B. MacDonald] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. On December 16, 1944, the vanguard of three German armies, totaling half a million men, attacked U.S. forces in the Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg,Charles B. MacDonald,A Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge,William Morrow Paperbacks,0688151574,Military - World War II,Ardennes, Battle of the, 1944-1945,Ardennes, Battle of the, 1944-1945.,Battles & campaigns,HISTORY General,HISTORY Military World War II,History,History - Military War,History: World,Military History - World War II,World history: Second World War

A Time for Trumpets The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge Charles B MacDonald 9780688151577 Books Reviews

This book reads as a truncated chronology and with repetitive introductions of the same staff officers. The accounts of individual actions woven into the time line is very helpful in understanding the role of the local battle within the whole. In my kindle copy there was not a map or maps that one could reference as the many small villages and towns were the subject of a particular section within the book. I would switch from the kindle book to a Google search to reference online available battle of the bulge maps. In summary the book is informative but the writing is uneven and frequently repetitive.
For some reason, there weren't any available maps. I made it halfway through with compelling stuff about which unit went where and got glory or pounding, and then went to another place that made no sense without having a map out. The book has a lot of typos. It's big on unit movements, but not so great on tying things in. Enjoyable in parts, required more to get more than two stars out of me.
Excellent and comprehensive description of the Battle of the Bulge as seen from both sides, both the Big Picture and the small unit combat that sometimes are ignored.The interplay of personalities was interesting. No maps in the kindle edition, but I had my own and was familiar with some parts of Germany and France due to a posting there in 1954/55.
This is definitely one of the best books I've ever read concerning the infamous Battle of the Bulge in WWII. The author, who fought in this battle, did an excellent job of research in putting this play-by-play account of the battle together. For some of you this book will probably provide too much information in that it details specific unit battles which took place over the entire battlefield. This book is not the typical Hollywood account of the battle; that is a battle that specifically address only one specific unit in the battle for Bastogne. Although the battle for Bastogne was critical and the holding of this major cross-roads town was paramount to stopping the German attack, many other critical battles occurred which involved a wide variety of mechanized artillery, tank, and infantry units of the Allied Command.

This book also details the battle strategy of the German Army in this critical last-ditch effort of Adolf Hitler to stop, or at least curtail, the Allied advance into Nazi Germany. It gives a detailed account of German fighting units' military objectives and strategies who fought in this battle.

This book also goes into detail of the types of weapons used by both the Allied and German forces in this battle. As an example, the U.S. Army's POSIT artillery round; which at the time of the battle was a secret classified artillery shell designed to explode at a specific-set altitude over enemy-held positions.
An outstanding book capturing the Battle of the Bulge in great detail. Charles B. McDonald took great pains to record unit movements, engagements and results for the entire battle - although after reaching the German high water mark the account doesn't go into near the detail as the earlier portions of the operation. US Army regimental actions are recorded in great detail with many descriptions going down to the Company level. A great piece of work for those interested in small unit actions in the Ardennes. Although the greatest amount of detail captured is of American units the German and SS units are not forgotten. The author regularly records Axis units at the division and frequently at the regimental / kampfgruppe level.

Mr. McDonald engaged with fellow veterans capturing their experiences and weaving them into the story. Highlights of personal accounts include survivors of the Malmedy Massacre, German tank commanders exploitation of the fog of war, and the Allied soldier's confusion caused by the German's use of captured US Army vehicles. The amount of individual accounts isn't quite to the level of George Koskimaki's Battered Bastards of Bastogne. None the less there is enough there to really give the reader a sense of what it was like to fight in the Bulge.

Mr. McDonald includes discussions of the strategic aspects of the Battle. He provides insight into Hitler's thinking and his general staff's response to his plans. An extensive discussion of the impending battle's indicators that Allied intelligence missed, and how that major failure impacted future strategic decision making post Battle of the Bulge. Mr. McDonald describes the role ULTRA intercepts played in the Allies' decision making process and provides numerous examples of how the intelligence was used throughout the book.

The historical research and writing without a doubt deserves four stars. Mr. McDonald did an excellent job organizing the material into a readable format which I was able to follow without too much effort. I read the e-book () version which is published by Endeavour Press. Endeavour's conversion / editing to the e-book version is rated at three stars. Generally Endeavour did a good editing job - a few places where they missed removing hyphenated words and a few misspellings, but nothing that actually detracts from the read. Copious use of hyperlinks for references and chapters. Now for the serious blunder by Endeavor - they included no maps. Here we have a detailed study of a large military operation and have absolutely no maps to refer to during the dialog. As a result I was very close to giving this book as published two stars. I ended up referring to maps published by the US Army's official history of the battle which can be found on-line.

In summary a must read for Bulge enthusiasts - especially if you are interested in specific engagements of the operation. If you are looking for an introductory book on the Battle of the Bulge I do not recommend this as a first read. There is so much detail it is easy to loose sight of the forest for all the trees. Regardless do not purchase the version of this book due to the missing maps. Instead go for the paper version.
This is a very good book full of details regarding the Battle of the Bulge. There are stories of each of the fighting divisions from both sides as well as personal stories that make it a very interesting read. I would have given it 5 stars except for one very significant fault as far as I am concerned. I do not know about the Hardback or Paperback, but the Edition as NO MAPS. This makes it extremely difficult to understand and I found myself just reading words without any knowledge of the geographical locations or strategy. I did look up a map of the battle, but nothing was of the detail that this book describes.
In summary, it is a great book about the battle with a lot of details about the battle, strategy, divisions involved and personal stories. Would be a much better work if they had taken the time to place a map in the front of each chapter. But for the price, why complain.
Absolutely the best book ever written on the "Battle Of The Bulge". Macdonald is a military Historian Par Excellence. A must read and a book that can not be put down.