Operation Market-Garden 1944 (1): The American Airborne Missions (Campaign, 270)

Enjoyed reading!! As usual with Psprey books well written and researched! Great iiuisrations and maps!

Very nice! This short book does a nice job of discussing the American role in Operation Market Garden--the bold plan by Bernard Montgomery (who was more often not so bold) to capture a Rhine bridge at Arnhem and open the way for the invasion of Germany itself.Two American paratroop divisions--the 82nd and 101st--were assigned to play a key role in the plan. They would capture two key bridges (at Nijmegen and Eindhoven) as British troops sped (or so it was hoped) up a road that would lead to Arnhem. British paratroopers were deposited at Arnhem to hold until the British XXX Corps arrives to complete the operation.The book develops along the standard lines of the Osprey Campaign series. Opposing plans. Key leaders. Opposing forces. The fighting. The two division American commanders were top notch officers--James Gavin and Maxwell Taylor. Their troops were hard fighters. The expectation was that German forces would be wrecks from the retreat from France after D-Day. Unhappily for the Allies, the forces were more powerful than anticipated--making success of the bold plan a challenge.The book does a nice job of summarizing the American involvement within the larger plan. One issue: early maps don't show the full picture. It would have been helpful to have the proposed plan of attack laid out. Nonetheless, maps do provide a sense of the larger picture.Overall, a very useful book. . . .

Seventy years on, Operation Market-Garden remains one of the controversial moments of World War II, a daring armor and airborne thrust into German-occupied Holland. It was famously a "bridge too far" in the Allied effort to reach and cross the Rhine River into Germany. Two U.S. airborne divisions helped open the way, seizing key bridges for British XXX Corps."Operation Market-Garden 1944 (1) is an Osprey Campaign Series entry, and a good one, authored by Steven Zaloga, with illustrations by Steve Noon. It focuses tightly on the battle by the U.S. 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions to seize a series of river crossing as far as Nijmegen, and on the struggle to hold open Hell's Highway in the face of unexpectedly ferocious German counterattacks. The narrative does a good job of explaining the plan and the battle. The aftermath offers a concise but very solid explanation for why the operation ultimately failed. The text is much enhanced with a nice collection of photographs, maps, diagrams and illustrations. Recommended as an excellent introduction to the battle and presumably to be followed by an additional book on British First Airborne at Arnhem.

There are a number of books about Operation Market-Garden, the valiant effort to liberate Holland and to open a pathway into Germany. Many concentrate on the British efforts at Arnhem and the tragic results there, Few books look at the US airborne effort that provided the little success that Market-Garden had. In this short volume Zaloga provides an overview of the US airborne contribution. Several important actions are studied in detail as are the problems faced by the Allied commanders. An excelent addition to anyones' library of WW2 subjects.

It is a great read.

A very good narrative of the 101st operations during operation market Garden, can't wait for the compliment issue on the British and Polish drops to the north

good purchase

good book fast service

Excellent detail and info.Good photos.

Enjoyed this book brilliant

Im Rahmen der Osprey-Campaign Serie ist 1993 bereits ein Heft über Market Garden erschienen, welches aber eher einen gaaaaanz groben Überblick über die Operation vom September 1944 gab.Nun erscheint wiederum in der Campaign-Reihe eine Serie zu Market Garden, was sicher dem Hype zum 70. Jahrestag geschuldet ist. Das erste Heft nun beschreibt die US-Einsätze der 82nd und der 101st Airborne- Division, die Landungen und die anschließenden Erdkämpfe. Das Format und der Aufbau ist Osprey-typisch, viele Fotos, Karten, gute Tabellen.Leider muss man sagen, dass es nicht wirklich aussagekräftig ist. Alle Fotos sind sattsam bekannt, wer sich bereits Bücher zum Thema zugelegt hat wird nichts Neues finden. Die Karten sind okay, halt sehr groß im Format und untauglich für Schlachtfeldbegehungen. Die Beschreibungen sind...oberflächlich, die Zeichnungen sind aber echt gut.Im Rahmen der Campaign-Serie hat die Reihe sicher ihren Platz verdient und ist auch okay, wenn man sich einen ersten Überblick veschaffen will. Dafür gebe ich die 4 Sterne. Wer aber bereits "im Thema" drin ist und sich die momentanen Standardwerke zu Market Garden gekauft hat (After the Battle Band 1 und 2 "Operation Market Garden" von Karel Magry ist da ein absolutes Muss, aber auch Fürbringers alte Divisiionsgeschichte zur" 9. SS PzDiv Hohenstaufen" oder das sagenhafte Bildwerk "Kampfraum Arnheim" sind hier auf jeden Fall zu nennen) sollte sich überlegen, ob er das Heft noch braucht.Fazit: Gut für den ersten Überblick, nichts für tiefere Interessen.

Der Inhalt ist für mich in Ordnung. Klar bekommt man die meisten Fotos und Karten auch anderswo, aber hier ist es konzentriert und ansehnlich präsentiert. Für den Hobbyhistoriker ausreichend.