War historian Cornelius Ryan chronicles in detailed, readable prose the battle of Arnhem, one of the most important -- and bloodiest -- campaigns in World War II.

A vivid chronicle of the first battle between British and German paratroopers—the unsung battle that prefigured the Battle of Arnhem. From July 13 to 16, 1943, British paratroopers fought for control of a strategically important bridge in Sicily. Now, the Battle of Primosole Bridge is brought to life in the first narrative solely dedicated to one of the bloodiest and hardest-fought battles for British airborne troops of World War II. The British paratroopers of the famed 1st Parachute Brigade, known as the “Red Devils,” fought their equally esteemed German paratrooper opponents, known as the “Green Devils,” during the Allies’ first invasion of Hitler’s Fortress Europe. The paratroopers found themselves cut off behind enemy lines with dwindling ammunition as they faced ever-growing enemy forces. Yet they courageously maintained the fight until ground forces arrived to capture the bridge before it was destroyed. The hard-won experience of the 1st Parachute Brigade was then tested only a year later in an almost identical battle on a larger scale: The Battle of Arnhem—the battle christened “a bridge too far.” While Arnhem is well documented, the events at Primosole Bridge deserve to be told at last.

In October 1943, all the Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents in Holland are captured by the Germans . . . except one. John Hewson, a.k.a. "Boekman," is the most dangerous agent to the German occupiers, with vital information about the German army, Boekman escapes the clutches of the S.S. and stays hidden until the start of the largest airborne operation in World War II: Operation Market Garden. When the SOE learn that Boekman is still alive, and that his estranged son, Harry, is on the ground fighting in Market Garden, Harry is tasked with organizing a small commando unit to rescue Boekman and try to escape through the German siege. The Battle of Arnhem unfolds day by day as father and son search for each other amidst the chaos of war and the dogged pursuits of a cruel Gestapo agent.

Acclaimed historian John C. McManus, author of The Dead and Those About to Die, explores World War II’s most ambitious invasion, Operation Market Garden, an immense, daring offensive to defeat Nazi Germany before the end of 1944. “A riveting and deeply moving story of uncommon courage.”—Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of The First Wave August 1944 saw the Allies achieve more significant victories than in any other month over the course of the war. The Germans were in disarray, overwhelmed on all fronts. Rumors swirled that the war would soon be over. On September 17, the largest airborne drop in military history commenced over Holland—including two entire American divisions, the 101st and the 82nd. Their mission was to secure key bridges at such places as Son, Eindhoven, Grave, and Nijmegen until British armored forces could relieve them. The Germans, however, proved much stronger than the Allies anticipated. In eight days of ferocious combat, they mauled the airborne, stymied the tanks, and prevented the Allies from crossing the Rhine. September Hope conveys the American perspective like never before, through a vast array of new sources and countless personal interviews to create a truly revealing portrait of this searing human drama.

The classic account of the final offensive against Hitler’s Third Reich. The Battle for Berlin was the culminating struggle of World War II in the European theater, the last offensive against Hitler’s Third Reich, which devastated one of Europe’s historic capitals and marked the final defeat of Nazi Germany. It was also one of the war’s bloodiest and most pivotal battles, whose outcome would shape international politics for decades to come. The Last Battle is Cornelius Ryan’s compelling account of this final battle, a story of brutal extremes, of stunning military triumph alongside the stark conditions that the civilians of Berlin experienced in the face of the Allied assault. As always, Ryan delves beneath the military and political forces that were dictating events to explore the more immediate imperatives of survival, where, as the author describes it, “to eat had become more important than to love, to burrow more dignified than to fight, to exist more militarily correct than to win.” The Last Battle is the story of ordinary people, both soldiers and civilians, caught up in the despair, frustration, and terror of defeat. It is history at its best, a masterful illumination of the effects of war on the lives of individuals, and one of the enduring works on World War II.

A WWII veteran combines firsthand immediacy with perceptive analysis in this vividly detailed history of the Battle of Arnhem. The Allied effort the liberate the Netherlands faced a brutal setback at the Battle of Arnham, where the men of the 1st British Airborne Division showed unsurpassed valor in the face of overwhelming opposition. The dramatic defeat, immortalized in the famous film A Bridge Too Far, is recounted here by Major Geoffrey Powell, who commanded C Company of the 156th Battalion, and who valorously led the entire battalion through—and out of—the onslaught. In The Devil’s Birthday, Powell draws on his own experience of the fighting while offring a deeply researched assessment of the operation and its execution. Casualties during the battle were appalling. The brave and enduring Dutch people suffered catastrophically while German morale was strengthened at a time of otherwise ebbing fortunes. But the hard lessons of Arnham will not be forgotten.