The Last Hill: The Epic Story of a Ranger Battalion and the Battle that Defined WWII

Frequent collaborators Drury and Clavin (Blood and Treasure) revisit the 1944 Battle of Hürtgen Forest in this exhaustive history. Before they get to the action, the authors detail the U.S. Army Rangers’ origins in Gen. George Marshall’s admiration for Lord Louis Mountbatten and his British commandos; conceived as “soldiers first, scout-saboteurs second,” the 1st Ranger battalion was organized in 1942 and played a key role in forcing the Axis surrender in North Africa. Commanded by Lt. Col. James Earl Rudder, the 2nd Ranger battalion’s mission in Hürtgen Forest was to take Hill 400 and the observation tower at its top, from which German spotters directed artillery barrages. In dramatic fashion, the authors recount how the Rangers charged up the icy hill with “no semblance of order” (“It was like scrabbling up a thirteen-hundred-foot child’s playground slide while being shot at”) and attacked the Germans “with knives, entrenching tools, steel helmets, bare fists.” After achieving “the deepest penetration into German territory by any American or British unit across the vast Allied front,” the Rangers defended the hill against a series of fierce counterattacks. Drury and Clavin pack the narrative with biographical details about the Rangers and skillfully toggle between battle scenes and big-picture analysis. WWII buffs will savor this deep dive. (Nov.)