Ike's Last Battle

by Whiting, Charles

• ISBN13: 9780850529142
• ISBN10: 085052914X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-09-01
• Publisher: Pen & Sword

Summary

March - April 1945. Victory for the Allies was only a matter of time. Two great armies were racing towards each other crushing German resistance in their path. Berlin was the prize, which the Soviets were in the event to seize. Instead Eisenhower, always more a political, rather than military, figure opted to destroy the German armies in and around the Ruhr. Churchill's warnings were ignored and Mongomery's plans overruled. What drove the decision-making at this vital time? Was it high level strategy or naked personal ambition? Charles Whiting sets out to examine the facts in his own distinctive style and reach a conclusion, no matter how unpalatable. Selling Points * A close examination of a key period in 20th Century history. Its consequences were to last for nearly 50 years. * An in-depth and thought-provoking study of Eisenhower's character, performance and motivation. The Author Charles Whiting is acknowledged as one of the foremost authorities on the Second World War and during his literary career has written on virtually every aspect of that conflict. He lives in York.

Table of Contents

Prologue	1	(12)
Part I: A Trap is Set
`Nice chap --- no soldier'	13	(14)
`You must have faith'	27	(16)
`Go!'	43	(16)
`Bradley will be responsible'	59	(14)
`Nothing but a geographical location'	73	(16)
`Bradley has feelings too'	89	(17)
`A Soviet target'	106	(19)
Part II: A Trap is Sprung
`We're not going to Berlin'	125	(14)
`Drive...drive...drive!'	139	(10)
`If the American public only knew'	149	(16)
`The senseless tragedy'	165	(16)
`The rational thing to do'	181	(16)
`A Field-Marshal does not surrender'	197	(14)
Epilogue	211	(4)
Bibliography	215	(4)
Index	219