The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945: 3 (Liberation Trilogy) - Softcover

Atkinson, Rick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1250037816 ISBN 13: 9781250037817

Publisher: Picador USA, 2014

Synopsis

It is the twentieth century's unrivaled epic: at a staggering price, the United States and its allies liberated Europe and vanquished Hitler. In the first two volumes of his bestselling Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson recounted how they fought through North Africa and Italy to the threshold of victory. Now he tells the most dramatic story of all--the titanic battle for Western Europe.

D-Day marked the commencement of the European war's final campaign, and Atkinson's riveting account of that bold gamble sets the pace for the masterly narrative that follows. The brutal fight in Normandy, the liberation of Paris, the disaster that was Operation Market Garden, the horrific Battle of the Bulge, and finally the thrust to the heart of the Third Reich--all these historic events and more come alive with a wealth of new material and a mesmerizing cast of characters. With The Guns at Last Light, the stirring #1 New York Times bestseller and final volume of this monumental trilogy, Atkinson has produced the definitive chronicle of the war that unshackled a continent and preserved freedom in the West.

About this title

Review:

"A magnificent book...[Atkinson] is an absolute master of his material." --Max Hastings, The Wall Street Journal

"A tapestry of fabulous richness and complexity...The Liberation Trilogy is a monumental achievement, about 2,500 pages in all, densely researched but supremely readable." --The New York Times Book Review

"Breathtaking, unforgettable...This volume is a literary triumph worthy of the military triumph it explores and explains." --The Boston Globe

"Monumental... As befits a journalist who knows his material inside and out, Atkinson can provide the incisive explanation to a complex situation or personage...A masterpiece of deep reporting and powerful storytelling." --The Los Angeles Times

"Atkinson] reconstructs the period from D-Day to V-E Day by weaving a multitude of tiny details into a tapestry of achingly sublime prose...With great sensitivity, Atkinson conveys the horrible reality of what soldiers had to become to defeat Hitler's Germany." --The Washington Post

"Detailed in its research, unsparing in its judgments and confident in its prose...This trilogy--on which [Atkinson has] spent 12 years, twice as long as the war itself--may well be his masterpiece." --Time Magazine

"Great characters, vivid details...The final volume of Rick Atkinson's 'Liberation Trilogy' proves again that few can re-tell a story as well as he." --USA Today

"A remarkable conclusion to his three parts on WWII... A fabulous book." --Tom Brokaw on MSNBC's Morning Joe

"The same qualities that garnered Atkinson a Pulitzer Prize for An Army at Dawn--meticulous research married to masterful narrative--are apparent in The Guns at Last Light. The new book relates the oft-told (but never better) story of the war's final year, from D-Day to the German surrender." --The Chicago Tribune

"Epic, set-piece battle sequences are balanced by deft portraiture. The Greatest Generation is nearly gone....The Liberation Trilogy is the monument it deserves." --Vanity Fair

"A sweeping, prodigiously researched epic...The Guns at Last Light is a definitive, heartfelt work of grandeur, atrocity, and profound sorrow. It is also, along with the two previous volumes, a long, fervent prayer for the fallen." --The Philadelphia Inquirer

"[An] extraordinary accomplishment. This is a beautifully written, moving account of one of the most bittersweet chapters in modern history...The details build a stunning and precise account of major movements--from Normandy to Paris, from the South of France to Grenoble--and close-up portraits of famous figures that make them living, breathing beings." --Smithsonian Magazine

"A riveting book...Few historians have Atkinson's gift for language and few journalists pay as much attention to historical sources...Atkinson writes with the descriptive and lyrical power of a first-rate novelist." --Christian Science Monitor

"Emotionally gripping...This 850-page military history captivates the reader with the high drama of a spellbinding novel and a cast of characters that a master storyteller would be hard-pressed to invent...It's hard to imagine a more engrossing, dramatic, fair-minded and elegantly written account of these 11 months that changed the course of history." --Associated Press

"A terrific read...Atkinson never loses track of the men who fought the war. Mining their diaries and letters, he has produced an account that is achingly human." --The Miami Herald

"A richly detailed narrative of the war final's year, with riveting looks at D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge." --San Diego Union-Tribune

"Atkinson paints on a vast canvas while stressing the details. He cites the experiences of soldiers -- officers and grunts alike--caught up in a conflagration beyond their comprehension. He preserves the humanity of humans in an inhumane situation...Passages describe human courage and depravity in such vivid prose that readers need to pause, reflect and regroup...His book is a fitting tribute." --Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Soon, if not already, Atkinson will show up on the list of giants, as later historians stand on his shoulders." --The Dallas Morning News

"An epic conclusion to an epic historical trilogy about an epic quest to preserve Western freedom, The Guns at Last Light is sure to join its predecessor volumes in the best-seller ranks, and confirms the Liberation Trilogy as a new benchmark against which World War II books yet to be written will be measured." --Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"Crisp narrative drive, prodigious research and incisive analysis of people and events...Atkinson's latest work is probably the single best volume about the war in Europe from the D-Day invasion...to the capitulation of German forces...Rick Atkinson...has become a poet of the war." --The Washington Independent Review of Books

"Superb...Atkinson writes sensitively, even lyrically...The Guns at Last Light offers an outstanding testament to all who sacrificed to defeat Hitler's Third Reich." --The Louisville Courier-Journal

"The master of narrative military history ends his Liberation Trilogy with this admired account of the 1944-45 fighting in Western Europe." --St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"The Guns at Last Light is an important addition to the World War II bookshelf." --The Washington Times

"Impressively researched...and energetically written, with a brisk pace that carries the reader easily through the narrative's 600-plus pages." --The Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Stark photographs complement the excellent prose." --Richmond Times Dispatch

"[The Guns at Last Light] is deep in detail, narrative and character description. Readers encounter famous generals--Eisenhower, Montgomery, Bradley, and a host of lower officers--in illuminated portrayals, warts and all." --Knoxville News Sentinel

"Sweeping in scope, Shakespearean in drama and angst, unsparing in its observations, and rich in detail...Atkinson said that he wrote the trilogy as an effort to tell [the story of the frontline troops] 'vividly and authoritatively, to current and future generations.' That he has." --Defense Media Network

"Atkinson's zest for research and his evident devotion to hard facts never obscures the grace of his writing. The proof of that lies less in the many accolades and prizes (including a Pulitzer in history in 2003) than simply in the reading. Rare is a 600-page-plus history book that qualifies as a page turner." --Military History Magazine

"Brilliant...Each volume [of the Liberation Trilogy] is characterized by superb research and fine writing. The high standard set in the prologue to the first volume carries through the epilogue to the last." --BG Harold W. Nelson, Army Magazine

"Richly rewarding and beautifully crafted ...With lyrical élan, [Atkinson] accurately and objectively tells the greatest story of our time, and does so with the general reader always in mind." --World War II Magazine

"A marvelous capstone to a trilogy that will make Rick Atkinson to the U.S. Army in the European Theater of Operations what Shelby Foote is to the Civil War...Mr. Atkinson has a rare ability to combine a historian's eye with a reporter's pen to simultaneously provide a sweep and detail to combat that is both unique and enjoyable for the novice student and the hardiest grognard." --New York Journal of Books

"Superb...Atkinson brings his Liberation Trilogy to a resounding close...An outstanding work of popular history, in the spirit of William Manchester and Bruce Catton." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Superb...The book is distinguished by its astonishing range of coverage...[Atkinson's] lively, occasionally lyric prose brings the vast theater of battle, from the beaches of Normandy deep into Germany, brilliantly alive. It is hard to imagine a better history of the western front's final phase." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"With a mastery of sources that support nearly every sentence, Atkinson achieves a military history with few peers as an overview of the 1944-45 campaigns in Western Europe." --Booklist

"The book stands out from others on World War II because it successfully explores the fallibility of participants at all levels...This is not a detailed account of any one particular battle but a sweeping epic, yet it is packed with fascinating details. Highly recommended to all who read World War II history." --Library Journal

Book Description:

The magnificent conclusion to Atkinson's monumental and highly acclaimed trilogy about the Liberation of Europe in the Second World War.

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador USA
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1250037816
• ISBN 13: 9781250037817
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 928