My life in the Ardennes

I am blessed at this mature age to know very little about the battle of the Bulge...

Besides the [wrong] basics (the germans attacked but they lost because their tanks run out of fuel and the 101st was in Bastogne and told them "nuts") I virtually knew not much. I thought that the whole thing took place in Alsace to start with, but then where was the Hurtgen forest? hugh... and why was there another offensive in the Ardennes? Where the hell was Bastogne anyway, and why Peiper with his "200 men" was so important?...Since there were a lot of SS involved as well, doing their atrocities on the way to the West, I wasn't so keen to develop the usual morbid facination for the only troops that looked like they had cool equipment.

So the "cooks" on one side and the "SS without fuel" on the other were never choices that really got me excited. I did game a few scenarios at ASL taking place during the Bulge, but I'm more an Eastern front type gamer.

So now you know the depth of what has been my ignorance and why it has eventually been a blessing to start doing research in this chapter of WWII... Something had to be discovered and learned and there began my life in the Bulge (mostly from an american perspective):
 

I don't regret having started with this book. As I said, I knew pretty much nothing about the battle of the Bulge and this book reads like a script of a war movie. The reader is punched around as the events develop, without understanding much what is going on other than the immediate environment of each little scene: bullets fly, tanks roar, phone lines are cut, artillery pummels the positions. It is chaos. The reader slowly emerges from the smoke and explosions to eventually see as the days/chapters pass what the full picture is. For someone who had zero knowledge on the Bulge, this was quite a terrific and almost physical journey. A good way to get into the Battle.

This book has quite a different approach. Very dense, it takes a couple of steps back and provides analysis and context to the events as they unfold. The stories are the same but told with more reserve, like a distant observer that treats the men who fought in this battle with utter respect and empathy. A sobering read, mature and rich in content

 This book is a bit strange. Organized by themes, it enables the reader to look at a particular point of interest. Filled with information, I cannot get much into it. Some guy on Amazon recommended to purchase the old edition (this one) rather than the new edition. I am not even sure that I bought the right book I was looking for. Maybe reading further, it will grow on me. Good as an overview.

 I chose this book especially for the following comment left by a reviewer on amazon "The detail is terrific, and probably important, for the military historian reader interested in what battalion was where, or what company commander did what, or which army advanced here or there, or withdrew so many miles, etc. But, for the general reader it is kind of boring". Do I need to say more? I knew that as a wargamer this book was for me

 I came to pick this book for a couple of reasons. "A time for trumpets" actually developed an interest in me for the actions pitting the US troops against Kampfgruppe Peiper. There are very likely other units well worth of a look at but Peiper's drive seems the most documented from a tactical point of view. As a wargamer, the existence of such of material simply drew me like a magnet. So basically, I purchased it as  it contains german vehicle color plates that I have desperately been looking for on the net and it will enable me to model a coherent unit of villains.

This book was purchased as a clear source of inspiration for tactical engagements and to follow at least one very active unit from the start to the end of the offensive. It's purpose is to be used as material for scenarios.