After having read Stephen Ambrose's book The Citizen Soldiers, I wanted to read more about the Battle of the Bulge, and especially about Bastogne. This was the only book I could find in our local library so I took it out. The book is not a dry military history, but rather, like Ambrose's book, it tells the stories of the people who were there, in the middle of the battles. It gives the reader a good idea of the importance of the town and the lengths to which the units and the individuals went to prevent the Germans from taking the town. Of course, the history is helpful, too! I often find myself wanting to buy a book immediately after I've read it in a library copy but, if I hold off long enough, find that I don't need the book after all. It's been some months now since I read this one, and I STILL want to own it. Hope it becomes available again!