From my experience as an infantryman with the 84th Infantry Division in WW2 I feel much of the book is fiction. His discussion of the action around Geilenkirchen in November - December 1944 is void of the actual time line. Dates in general are inored in the book. The author has no feeling of what WW2 combat was. So far my search to find biographic information on the author has not turned up much. He has written a lot of books.

Another assembly line book by Charles Whiting (is there an actual person with this name, or is it a pseudonym used by the publisher?)-sloppy writing and a total lack of any new insight or even information.

I picked up this book with anticipation about learning more on the often overlooked Allied campaign to break through the defenses of the German Siegfried line in the west.

Disappointment set in soon as popular myths about the French Maginot line are retold as fact while odd, irrelevant (and sometimes vulgar) anecdotes are inserted without adding anything to the story-do we really need to know that much about Ernest Hemingway? Yet not enough details are included on the structure or techniques of Organization Todt, the German contractor for the Siegfried Line and other massive wartime projects as just one example.

Do yourself a favor and buy any of the WWII books by Cornelius Ryan instead, especially "A Bridge too Far" which deals with a German resistance in the west as the Allies approached the Rhine.

This book describes the battles along the Siegfried Line. Included are several photos of the men involved in the fighting and maps of the area in which they fought. While several high ranking officers such as Patton and Model are discussed along with a "what ever happened to..." chapter for the leaders, I was a bit disappointed that not more detail was given as to the West Wall itself. Its development and construction is not really discussed at all while its guns, bunkers, dragon's teeth, etc. are only mentioned when they are involved in one of the many battles which occurred along the 350 miles of contested defenses.

Overall, it's actually a decent book which is easy to read (perhaps becuase of the lack of extensive detail I was seeking) and it shows that the many seperate battles along the West Wall should be considered to be more like one large campaign. But the lack of a detailed discussion of "the what & why" of the defenses themselves left be wanting, hence the 3 star rating.