Snow and Steel

Between December 16, 1944 and January 15, 1945, American forces found themselves entrenched in the heavily forested Ardennes region of Belgium, France, and Luxembourg defending against an advancing German army amid freezing temperatures, deep snow, and dense fog. Operation Herbstnebel--Autumn
Mist--was a massive German counter-offensive that stunned the Allies in its scope and intensity. In the end, the 40-day long Battle of the Bulge, as it has come to be called, was the bloodiest battle fought by U.S. forces in World War II, and indeed the largest land battle in American history.
Before effectively halting the German advance, some 89,000 of the 610,000 American servicemen committed to the campaign had become casualties, including 19,000 killed.

The engagement saw the taking of thousands of Americans as prisoners of war, some of whom were massacred by the SS--but it also witnessed the storied stand by U.S. forces at Bastogne as German forces besieged the region and culminated in a decisive if costly American victory. Ordered and directed
by Hitler himself--against the advice of his generals--the Ardennes offensive was the last major German offensive on the Western Front. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment. Its last reserve squandered, these irreplaceable losses
would hasten the end of the war.

In Snow and Steel, Peter Caddick-Adams draws on interviews with over 100 participants of the campaign, as well as archival material from both German and US sources, to offer an engagingly written and thorough reassessment of the historic battle. Exploring the failings of intelligence that were rife
on both sides, the effects of weather, and the influence of terrain on the battle's outcome, Caddick-Adams deftly details the differences in weaponry and doctrine between the US and German forces, while offering new insights into the origins of the battle; the characters of those involved on both
the American and German sides, from the general staff to the foot soldiers; the preparedness of troops; and the decisions and tactics that precipitated the German retreat and the American victory. Re-examining the SS and German infantry units in the Bulge, he shows that far from being deadly
military units, they were nearly all under-strength, short on equipment, and poorly trained; kept in the dark about the attack until the last minute, they fought in total ignorance of their opponents or the terrain. Ultimately, Caddick-Adams concludes that the German assault was doomed to failure
from the start.

Aided by an intimate knowledge of the battlefield itself and over twenty years of personal battlefield experience, Caddick-Adams has produced the most compelling and complete account of the Bulge yet written.


"Caddick-Adams knows more about the Bulge than any other historian I have read... I admire his originality... Snow and Steel offers an authoritative narrative of the drama." --Max Hastings, The Sunday Times (UK)

"[Peter Caddick-Adams] has woven the threads together skillfully and written a book which analysis and narrative combine to provide a brilliant anatomy of a modern battle. Above all, and this is what makes the book enjoyable for the general reader as well as the military buff, Caddick-Adams explains
the context of the battle and examines the strengths or weaknesses of the antagonists, their leaders, equipment, ideologies, economic resources, and intelligence systems." --The Times (UK)

"The Battle of the Bulge was the last gasp of Hitler's armed forces before inevitable defeat and one of the few pitched battles fought in the West. Caddick-Adams has marshalled a wealth of fascinating detail to show that Hitler's last gamble was a military fantasy while Eisenhower emerges from this
account as one of the great strategists of the war. This will surely become the standard history of this climactic confrontation in the West." --Richard Overy

"Peter Caddick-Adams is fast emerging as one of our most authoritative and exciting military historians... Combining deft analysis with anecdote, he never loses sight of the immense human drama, and his empathy for the many combatants and civilians caught up in this brutal battle is profoundly
moving. This is a rich, thought-provoking and surely definitive account of one of the most iconic battles of the Second World War." --James Holland, author of The Battle of Britain and Dam Busters

"Peter Caddick-Adams's Snow and Steel offers readers, at long last, the entirety of the German Ardennes offensive of 1944-5, popularly known as the Battle of the Bulge. Until now the story of the Bulge has been recounted unevenly, in bits and pieces and with emphasis upon pockets of heroism and
horror. This book's singular achievement is to offer a balanced view of the strategy and tactics of both sides. Writing with authority yet wearing his scholarship lightly, Caddick-Adams offers an encyclopedic and immersive narrative of the battle that was, in Churchill's words, 'an ever-famous
American victory.'" --Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War, and Napoleon: A Life

"Snow and Steel tells the story of the Battle of the Bulge from foxhole to the Fuhrer's Command Headquarters, leaving the reader with a new appreciation for the largest battle America fought in the Second World War. With a soldier's insight into the flow and fog of battle, Snow and Steel
demonstrates why Peter Caddick-Adams rates highly among the new generation of battlefield historians. A must-have and must-read for students of the European War." --LTC (Ret) Roger Cirillo, Association of the US Army Institute of Land Warfare

"Caddick-Adams is probably the best military historian of his generation, and Snow and Steel is the definitive account of one of the key punctuation marks in history, when the western Allies thwarted Germany's last attempt to turn the tide of the Second World War." --Chris Bellamy, University of
Greenwich

"Snow and Steel is a fresh re-telling of a widely known story. Throughout the narrative Peter Caddick-Adams transitions smoothly back and forth between the highest strategic and operational echelons, down to the level of the frontline GI and Landser. The result is a rich tapestry of the single
largest battle in American history." --Maj. Gen. David T. Zabecki, U.S. Army (Ret'd)

"Like its predecessor (Monte Cassino: Ten Armies in Hell), Snow and Steel brings a fresh and innovative approach to military history-so long restricted to the dry study of generals and operations. By exploring the cultures and motivations of the participant armies, as well as by excavating veterans'
accounts of surviving the sharp end, Caddick-Adams suffuses life, spark, and dynamism into his new narrative of the incredible story of the Battle of the Bulge." --Alexander Rose, author of Washington's Spies (now an AMC series)

"A gripping account of one of the most important campaigns of the last year of World War Two, Snow and Steel deserves attention from anyone interested in the war." --Jeremy Black, author of War and Technology

"Caddick-Adams is a master at integrating narrative and analysis, and at balancing personal experiences with descriptions of operations. Broadly conceived, comprehensively researched, clearly written, Snow and Steel stands at the forefront among accounts of the Battle of the Bulge." --Dennis
Showalter, Colorado College

"Snow and Steel highlights very effectively a chapter in American military history that has real resonance today. We all have something to learn from reflecting on it." --General Sir Nick Parker, former Commander, UK Land Forces

"Caddick-Adams knows the battlefield well and tells a gripping tale based on the first hand experiences of those who fought across its snowy landscape, pricking a few myths along the way and re-assessing the fighting reputation of some of the commanders involved." --Tim Newark, author of The Mafia
at War

"Most military historians write about command and control, but very few have such powerful command and control themselves to drive such a comprehensive and excellent narrative. This is a complex tale, told in an utterly compelling fashion." --Paul Moorcraft, Director of the Centre for Foreign Policy
Analysis, London

"Packed with fascinating first hand accounts, authoritative analysis and compelling personal vignettes, Snow and Steel is hard to put down. Peter Caddick-Adams, a leading Bulge scholar, has walked the battlefields of the Ardennes and studied the campaign for decades. Only an author of his vast
experience could produce such a work of importance and excellence. Even if you have read many books on the Bulge, you will learn more from this one." --John C. McManus, author of Alamo in the Ardennes: The Untold Story of the American Soldiers who Made the Defense of Bastogne Possible

"Superb: an impeccably researched, finely judged reappraisal of a pivotal World War Two battle that still resonates today." --Saul David, author of All the King's Men: The British Soldier from the Restoration to Waterloo

"Peter Caddick-Adam's depth and level of analysis of Adolf Hitler's last great offensive, in a desperate gamble to alter the course of World War II is impressive. Packed with fascinating detail, Snow and Steel captures the perspectives of both sides in the epic Battle of the Bulge in a manner that
hooks the reader into the unfolding drama. A riveting account, his book spans the generalship of the opposing armies and their grand sweeps of strategy down to the experiences of the frontline soldier at the sharp end. The 1944 German Ardennes offensive has been covered many times before, but
this is a classic and gripping examination that stands out." --Colonel Stuart Tootal

"Caddick-Adams casts a wide net, delving deep into the background, conduct, consequences and even historiography of this iconic battle, so even experienced military buffs will find plenty to ponder." --Kirkus Reviews

"The World War II battle pantheon mostly reads like the index to an atlas: Anzio, Iwo Jima, Stalingrad, Tobruk, etc. One exception in the name game traces to a flinty European forest, which we speak of today, thanks to an imaginative newshawk, by employing the subtitle to Peter Caddick-Adams's
masterful new book. In this tank-size volume, the gifted Briton, a major in the British Territorial Army who lectures at the U.K. Defence Academy and who most recently wrote with �lan of another conflict (Monte Cassino: Ten Armies in Hell), illuminates the Battle of the Bulge until he has run out of
facets. He layers context and connections with an inclusive style. Both the reader who knows nothing or little of this battle and the maven steeped in Bulgeiana will come away from Snow and Steel educated and satedEL. Snow and Steel is a treasure." --Michael Dolan, Senior Editor, World War II
Magazine

"Caddick-Adams leaves nothing out, and the details can be overwhelming. But the book's comprehensiveness and rigor will make it hard to supersede as the most authoritative history of the battle." --Foreign Affairs