Our tortured souls : the 29th Infantry Division in the Rhineland, November - December 1944

"Joseph Balkoski is the top living D-Day historian." --USA Today"Balkoski has fingertip command of his sources, and a sense of the dramatic that never loses touch with the brutal realities of combat." --Dennis Showalter, past president of the Society for Military History and author of Patton and RommelFrom RICK ATKINSON, Pulitzer Prize winning author of "The Liberation Trilogy" -- "What an achievement! The 29th Infantry Division, specifically, and the U.S. Army generally are lucky to have a historian of Joe Balkoski's stature and skill to tell the tale of combat in Western Europe from the perspective of both the ordinary GI and his leaders." Continues Balkoski's acclaimed multivolume history of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division in World War IICovers the division's vital role in the U.S. Army's November offensive, which Gen. Omar Bradley hoped would get the Allies to the Rhine River by ChristmasA riveting story of heroism and tragedy, during which thousands of 29ers became casualties in a campaign that ultimately failed to end the warBalkoski blends meticulous research with masterful storytelling By November 1944, The U.s. 29th Infantry Division Had Stormed Ashore At Omaha Beach On D-day, Battled Through The Hedgerows And Towns Of Normandy, Clashed With German Paratroopers For Control Of Brest, And Waged A Six-week-long Battle Of Attrition In Western Germany, Suffering More Than 100 Percent Casualties During These Five Brutal Months---but The Division's Combat Service Had Not Even Reached Its Halfway Point. In Our Tortured Souls, Acclaimed Military Historian Joseph Balkoski Picks Up The Story Of The 29th On The Eve Of The All-out Offensive Intended To Carry The Allies To The Rhone River By Christmas And End The War Soon Thereafter. The Plan For The 29th Seemed Simple Enough. As Part Of Gen. William Simpson's Ninth Army, With The 2nd Armored Division To The North And The 30th Infantry Division To The South, The Division Was To Drive Ten Miles Eastward, Breaking Through Several German Strong Points, Defended By Poorly Regarded Volksgrenadier Soldiers, Crossing The Roer, And Seizing Jülich, Beyond Which Lay The Rhine And Germany's Heartland. The Offensive Encountered Problems From Its Beginning On November 16, 1944, When It Took Days, Not The Expected Hours, To Crack The Germans' First Line Of Defense. The Cold, Wet Weather Slowed The Advance, Turning Roads Into Mud And Inflicting Painful Trench Foot On The Soaked 29ers, And The Much-maligned Volksgrenadiers Tenaciously Defended Their Native Soil. By The Time The Offensive Was Halted Three Weeks Later On The Western Banks Of The Roer, The 29th Infantry Division Had Suffered 2,600 Casualties But Had Not Crossed The River Or Captured Jülich. The Offensive Fell Short Of Its Objectives In Other Sectors As Well: The Allies Would Not Reach The Rhine By Christmas, And The War Would Last Another Five Months. With His Trademark Combination Of Meticulous Research And Vivid Storytelling, Balkoski Reconstructs This Tragic Chapter In The History Of The 29th Infantry Division.--jacket Of Book. Watch On The Rhine -- Three Towns In Germany -- Preventing Wholesale Slaughter -- Paying For A Bad Guess -- We Have A War On Again -- The Momentous Now -- As Far Away As The Moon -- They Are Doomed Men. Joseph Balkoski. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The acclaimed WWII historian continues his in-depth chronicle of the 29th Infantry Division as it made its brutal push into Germany. By November of 1944, the U.S. 29th Infantry Division had stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day and embarked on an epic and arduous path toward Allied victory. In Our Tortured Souls, acclaimed military historian Joseph Balkoski picks up the story of the 29th on the eve of the all-out offensive intended to carry the Allies to the Rhine River by Christmas and end the war soon afterward. The plan for the 29th seemed simple enough. As part of General William Simpson's Ninth Army, the division was to drive ten miles eastward, breaking through several German strongpoints, crossing the Roer, and seizing Jülich, beyond which lay the Rhine and Germany's heartland. The offensive encountered problems from the very beginning, on November 16th, when it took days to crack the German's first line of defense. By the time the offensive was halted on the banks of the Roer three weeks later, the 29th Infantry Division had suffered 2,600 casualties and fallen short of its objectives. Balkoski reconstructs this tragic chapter in the division's history with his trademark combination of meticulous research and vivid st Continues Balkoski's acclaimed multivolume history of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division in World War II Covers the division's vital role in the U.S. Army's November offensive, which Gen. Omar Bradley hoped would get the Allies to the Rhine River by Christmas A riveting story of heroism and tragedy, during which thousands of 29ers became casualties in a campaign that ultimately failed to end the war Balkoski blends meticulous research with masterful storytelling. "Joseph Balkoski is the top living D-Day historian." - "USA Today "Balkoski has fingertip command of his sources, and a sense of the dramatic that never loses touch with the brutal realities of combat." - Dennis Showalter, past president of the Society for Military History and author of Patton and Rommel Military historian Joseph Balkoski, named "the top living D-Day historian" by USA Today, continues his acclaimed history of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division in World War II with this book, which recounts the division's vital role in the U.S.