{"product_id":"war-in-the-ruins-the-american-armys-final-battle-against-nazi-germany-9781594161179","title":"War in the Ruins: The American Army's Final Battle Against Nazi Germany","description":"\u003cp\u003eWar in the Ruins has all the vivid narrative  historical context  and exacting military detail you would expect in a battle story. But author Edward G. Longacres account of the Centurymen at Heilbronn is no sterile blow-by-blow from the war as chess game genre. It is a fully fleshed-out portrait of young American men dealing with wars realities in one of World War IIs fieriest and unjustly overlooked land battles.JIM KUSHLAN  America in WWII Magazine By April 1945  the last German counteroffensive in the west had been defeated  the vaunted Siegfried Line was no more  the Rhine River had been crossed  and major German cities were being bombed relentlessly. The war in Europe appeared to be in its final stages. As American and British armies overran central Germany  the Russians were smashing their way from the east toward Berlin. Optimism reigned up and down the Allied lines. But as the American Armys 100th Infantry Division pushed along the west bank of the Neckar River across from bomb-shattered Heilbronn  resistance unexpectedly stiffened. In that 700-year-old city  a major industrial and communications center still operating for the benefit of the Nazi war machine  Hitlers subordinates had battened down for a last-ditch stand. For sheer ferocity  it would exceed anything the now-battle-hardened Americans had experienced. Here  American troops faced a grueling campaign of house-to-house fighting  with Hitler Youth  Volkssturm militia  and an SS division attempting to stop the American advance at this critical sector of the European theater. Having been repeatedly targeted by Alllied aircraft  the city resembled a vast  Hellish ruin  and as American soldiers inched their way forward  they encountered booby traps  withering sniper fire  deadly Panzerfaust rounds  and a fanatical enemy. The nine-day battle for Heilbronn would be the last major combat for American troops in Europe. Within three weeks of their securing the city  Hitler would be dead and Germany defeated. In War in the Ruins: The American Armys Final Battle Against Nazi Germany  Edward G. Longacre recounts this neglected but essential chapter in the history of World War II  describing the 100th Divisions swift but grueling advance through the Vosges Mountains  their Rhine River crossing  the assault on the historic Maginot Line  and the ominous approach to Heilbronn. The author then describes the entire bitter battle and its aftermath  using private letters  journals  German and American action reports  and other primary source material  to establish War in the Ruins as an essential volume in the history of World War II in Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45280084164661,"sku":"ByrdShop_1594161178","price":35.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781594161179.jpg?v=1780619913","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/war-in-the-ruins-the-american-armys-final-battle-against-nazi-germany-9781594161179","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}