The Battle of Arnhem: The Deadliest Airborne Operation of World War II by Antony Beevor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Battle of Arnhem is the latest book from Antony Beevor. This covers not just the battle for Arnhem involving the British 1st Airborne Division, but also the rest of Operation Market-Garden. This is a very detailed look at the entire operation, and provides a wealth of information about the operation and where it went wrong. It is very compelling story, of poor planning, wishful thinking and the courage of ordinary soldiers. Beevor continues the story beyond the battle and we learn what happened to the Dutch civilian population during the “hunger winter” of 1944-45.

If anything, there is perhaps too much detail. It is sometimes hard to follow the narrative as we jump from one unit to another, or one sector of the battle to another.

I do like the book, but I think it suffers somewhat in comparison to A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan. Though the Ryan book is fairly old at this point and new sources and information have come to light since it was published in 1974, it does have a very good narrative that helps the reader place people and events in their proper context.