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A review by bergsteiger
The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson
3.0
So I know that this trilogy got a lot of good press, but this one ended with more of a whimper than a bang, for me. By far, my favorite work of Mr. Atkinson is still the Long Gray Line. There was a poignancy to that book that he seems unable to capture in this trilogy and especially in this book.
Much like the other books in this series, it is a plodding work. I think this is because he truly lacks a coherent narrative. In this book we go from a ridiculously grandiloquent opening, to a ream of minutiae, to a relatively sound strategic overview, to an endless merry-go-round of Allied bickering and incompetence, to a sprawling ending that does nothing to bring this work together.
As always, I learned something due to Atkinson's exhaustive research. However, it took a lot of determination to plow through this tome. It's not a bad book, but the first two were much better, and you almost can't skip this one if you read those first two. It just wasn't the best work I've read about Americans in WWII. Not by a long shot.
Three stars for the breadth of knowledge, well-placed maps, and detailed research. Just don't expect to be wowed by this one.
Much like the other books in this series, it is a plodding work. I think this is because he truly lacks a coherent narrative. In this book we go from a ridiculously grandiloquent opening, to a ream of minutiae, to a relatively sound strategic overview, to an endless merry-go-round of Allied bickering and incompetence, to a sprawling ending that does nothing to bring this work together.
As always, I learned something due to Atkinson's exhaustive research. However, it took a lot of determination to plow through this tome. It's not a bad book, but the first two were much better, and you almost can't skip this one if you read those first two. It just wasn't the best work I've read about Americans in WWII. Not by a long shot.
Three stars for the breadth of knowledge, well-placed maps, and detailed research. Just don't expect to be wowed by this one.