The Bloody Forest: Battle for the Hurtgen: September 1944-January 1945

The definitive account of one of World War II’s bloodiest campaigns—the five-month battle between American and German forces in the Huertgen Forest—told through the words of the men who were there.

From the preface:

“In the course of research and interviews while writing a series of books on World War II, I became increasingly aware of the campaign for the Huertgen Forest. While survivors of other battles sometimes criticized the strategy and the orders they were given, there was a depth of anger about the Huertgen that surpassed anything I had encountered elsewhere. The unhappiness with what occurred and the absence of much objective coverage in the memoirs of those in the top command slots convinced me to produce this history. 

As I have reiterated in all of my books, which rely heavily on oral or eyewitness reports, there are always the dangers of flawed memory, limited vantage points, and the possibility of self-interest in such accounts. But the almost universal condemnation of their superiors’ critical decisions by individuals who were under fire in that ‘green hell’ offers a cautionary note on the accuracy and the truths of histories that draw from the official documents and the personal papers of the likes of Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Courtney Hodges (who apparently left little in the way of records), J. Lawton Collins and others in similar positions. . . . 

Each new war differs from that of the past, but to ignore what happened in the Huertgen enhances the possibilities for another bitter victory, if not a defeat.”

• Road to Huertgen: Forest in Hell
• The Battle of the Huertgen Forest
• A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hurtgen Forest and the Roer River Dams, 1944-1945
• Follow Me and Die: The destruction of an American division in World War II
• In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown
• Black Thursday: The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid
• Battle Of Hurtgen Forest (West Wall)
• The Liberator: One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau
• Hell in Hurtgen Forest: The Ordeal and Triumph of an American Infantry Regiment (Modern War Studies)
• Blood Red Snow: The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front