Review: A Bridge Too Far

A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a throwback to my high school days, when I read this book on a rather regular basis. It is an account, heavily based on eyewitnesses and on detailed archive research, of the ill-fated Operation Market-Garden, the British offensive in September of 1944, which sought to drive the German army out of the Netherlands and gain a bridgehead on the Rhine at Arnheim. The strategy to gain that objective was the most massive airborne landing in history, which was designed to capture the bridges along one highway leading to the Rhine bridge at Arnheim. Then, a armoured spearhead would push up that one highway and reach the Rhine within two days, establish a bridgehead and, maybe, even drive for Berlin. Conceived in the heady days of the liberation of France in the summer and fall of 1944, the plan assumed the Germans were close to collapse. Despite the heady optimism, one of the commanders, during the planning, wondered openly whether they might be trying to going one bridge too far.

The book offers a vivid narrative of the planning and execution of this ambitious and, well, rather fool-hardy offensive. It covers the over-confidence of the planners, who missed two battered SS panzer divisions who arrived in the Arnheim area to rest and the chaos as the troops on the ground faced both heavier than expected resistance, but also more difficult weather, logistics and support. Despite everything that went wrong, Ryan conveys an effort which almost, but not quite managed to succeed. His meticulous research gives a clear sense of what was going on at any point on both sides and among the Dutch civilians. It makes for fascinating reading.

Despite its age, this book is a classic in World War Ii battle history. It is so well written that it was even made into a movie, which popularized the story. It is a really worthwhile book to read for those who want to get a sense of what World War II was like on the ground.

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