On 17 September 1944, General Kurt Student, the founder of Nazi Germany's parachute forces, heard the growing roar of aeroplane engines. He went out onto his balcony above the flat landscape of southern Holland to watch the air armada of Dakotas and gliders carrying the British 1st Airborne and the American 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions. He gazed up in envy at this massive demonstration of paratroop power.

Operation Market Garden, the plan to end the war by capturing the bridges leading to the Lower Rhine and beyond, was a bold concept: the Americans thought it unusually bold for Field Marshal Montgomery. But could it ever have worked? The cost of failure was horrendous, above all for the Dutch, who risked everything to help. German reprisals were pitiless and cruel and lasted until the end of the war.

The British fascination with heroic failure has clouded the story of Arnhem in myths. Antony Beevor, using often overlooked sources from Dutch, British, American, Polish and German archives, has reconstructed the terrible reality of the fighting, which General Student himself called 'The Last German Victory'. Yet this book, written in Beevor's inimitable and gripping narrative style, is about much more than a single dramatic battle. It looks into the very heart of war. on one of the most famous and disastrous operations of WWII. The hardback version contains detailed maps of the operation, presented with clarity for the reader to follow, especially for the first time reader of this operation. There are also four sets of photographs These are carefully chosen to illustrate people and events described in the narrative.
Like his previous examinations of D Day or the Ardennes campaign, Beevor weaves together the broad strategic context of the operation with the fine detail of the people who took part through observation and anecdote. Beevor's descriptive genius is to combine the many detailed parts of his research to paint a picture of people and events the reader can almost 'see' as they read.

The central tenet of Beevor's Arnhem is that it was a mission which was bound to fail and Beevor meticulously unfolds the disaster - both for those waging the battle and on the civilians before during and after the operation, through reprisal and starvation.

Beevor's examination is, as usual, forensic and he is not sparing of the hubris and selfish nature of some of the most prominent Allied officers under Eisenhower's command. The author notes that even the most careful planning rarely holds beyond the first engagement with the enemy, yet Market Garden was predicated and prosecuted on the basis that every aspect of the plan needed to succeed as planned for the operation to be accomplished. Ike's American army approach of agreeing strategic operations and leaving the details to those who will fight the operation, played into the self serving instincts of the allied commanders who planned Market Garden, either wilfully ignoring or playing down the risks.

The arc of Beevor's narrative is impressive. What remains for me from this powerful read are the small details of heroism, friendship and frailty. Beneath the grand plans, ultimately war is a personal journey for those who suffer it. Beevor's closing paragraphs also illustrate that out of tragedy and loss closure may also come.
An excellent, insightful and honest examination of Operation Market Garden. Highly recommended. I am sure in time it will become the definitive account.

If you want to get a sense of the battle for Arnhem I would also point you to the DVD 'Theirs is the Glory - Men of Arnhem' This DVD was produced one year after the battle and was filmed without the use of studio sets and very few actors. The re-enactments were shot in Arnhem, still as the battle left it, using men from 1st Airborne Regiment who fought in the battle as well as some of the civilians. These include Kate ter Horst 'the Angel of Arnhem' (photo at plate 31 in Beevor's book) who calmed the wounded, reading from the Bible to them. It is available on Amazon and is a powerful companion piece to Beevor's excellent account.