A Bridge Too Far: Amazon.co.uk: Cornelius Ryan: 9780684803302: Books

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"I know of no other work of literature of World War II as moving, as awesome, and as accurate in its portrayal of human courage." -- General James A. Gavin

Malcolm Muggeridge, 1973

`The most brilliant reporter now alive' --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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First Sentence
He had time to dwell on the inevitability of the end. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

32 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (32 customer reviews)

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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book worthy of the people whose story it tells., 14 Jun 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Bridge Too Far (Wordsworth Military Library) (Paperback)

I agree with the sentiments of the reader from Harrow wholeheartedly. Whether Operation Market Garden was a success or a failure, militarily sound or more an expression of the ambition of some of the personalities involved, it should be remembered by generations which follow as an example of supreme sacrifice and unparalleled courage. The Operation may have failed in its goals but no soldiers have fought harder and achieved so much than the airborne forces in Market Garden.

Veterans of other brutal engagements such as Anzio and Omaha Beach attested that the fighting they experienced in Arnhem, Nijmegen and elsewhere was the most ferocious and sustained they had ever seen. These personal views of the troops merely confirm Ryan's own excellent and harrowing decriptions of the desperate and relentless fighting.

The human cost of the Operation was appalling which, since this was due largely to some really dreadful oversights made by the Allies in the planning of the operation, makes the astronomic casualty rate - and the superhuman courage of the ultimately doomed servicemen - all the more distressing.

Ryan's book is very comprehensive and expertly researched, often exclusively from the very Commanders involved in the Operation (right to the very top!). The story unfolds at pace and Ryan keeps the reader completely abreast of all the events and the situations facing all the hopeless and strewn units (as they happen simultaneously throughout the region) in a masterful way. You can feel the futility and frustration of the besieged units growing with every delay of the armoured column and every German reinforcement. Whilst maintaining this strategic overview of the implications of what was happening on the ground - and what wasn't happening back on the airfields of England and back with XXX Corps - there is room in Ryan's book for every bit of detail.

The passages describing individual skirmishes and assaults are minutely detailed and expertly described, including not only the action but also the bizarre snapshots of images and thoughts, the quirky behaviour and especially the grim humour. If you want to read about Market Garden then 'A Bridge Too Far' is a must. If you're interested in military history or accounts of the courage, resolve and success of fighting men then read this and remember them.

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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent history of a monumental battle., 3 Dec 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Bridge Too Far (Wordsworth Military Library) (Paperback)

The battle for the Rhine bridges around Arnhem gets forgotten about because (from an allied perspective) it was a disaster and no-one likes to talk about their disasters. I found it very difficult to read this book because of the terrible things it described, but I couldn't put it down anyway. If you've seen the film and put the whole battle down as a relatively minor incident during WW2 you ought to read this book and learn just what went on. In it's way it's every bit as important as Normandy or Stalingrad and the people who were there, civilian and military, from whichever side, deserve to be remembered by us. Read it.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure genius.Period, 21 Feb 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Bridge Too Far (Paperback)

This is Cornelius Ryan's masterpiece dealing with the ill-fated Allied invasion of Holland in 1944.Unlike most other works on the subject,which tend to focus primarily on the Battle of Arnhem and the role of the 1st Airborne Division,this gem of a book goes into tremendous detail about the whole affair,basically encompassing a three-week period in September 1944,from the inception of Operation "Market-Garden" to its bitter conclusion. All points of view are covered,from the Allied commanders who devised the attack and those who fought in the subsequent battle,their German counterparts,the ordinary front-line soldiers(who at times are bemused and then cynical regarding the decisions made by the "brass hats") and of course not forgetting the populace of Arnhem and Oostersbeek,who welcomed the paratroopers as liberators,only to be swiftly disillusioned and who would then bear the brunt of the Nazi reprisals in the bleak winter of 1944-45. Mr.Ryan skilfully blends narrative with first person accounts in order to keep the story flowing.His superb way of describing the scenarios encountered,in particular the arrival of the airborne armadas over Holland,will stick in the mind long afterwards.(My personal favourite is in the fourth part of the book,when in one awesome paragraph,beginning with 'From the smoking ruins of Arnhem...',he captures the moment when the second lift of the airborne forces materialises over the battlefront AND the psychological effect of this upon the combatants.Magnificent!). Naturally the book is not without its flaws.Mr.Ryan is somewhat overfond of the term 'bolstered' and sprinkles it around liberally.He also seems to lose count of the number of airborne troops involved,thus the total number of paratroopers mentioned seems well in excess of the 35000 who were actually dropped in over the nine days of the operation.Then there is the query over the odd fact or two(for instance,one of the recipients of the Victoria Cross,whom he describes as being killed in action,was actually captured and died later in a POW camp). However these are all minor quibbles and in no way detract from the storyline.To me though,the most staggering accomplishment about this book is that it was written while Mr.Ryan was terminally ill with cancer and towards the end,he was struggling to stay alive just to finish it.(He died shortly after its completion in 1974). By itself the book is excellent.Add to this that it was penned by a dying man(and was in fact his whole raison d'etre)and only one description will suffice:Pure Genius.Period

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Superbly written
By taking the journalistic approach, whilst ensuring the facts are as accurate as he could get them, Ryan's account of operation market garden is fascinating, compelling and at... Read more

Published 3 months ago by GJ_Reading