The Last Assault the Bulge Reassessed

In treating the Battle of the Bulge in the forests of the Ardennes in 1944, Whiting (Bloody Aachen) is best at the tactical level, offering a well-written narrative focusing on the hard fight made by the survivors of the overrun 106th Infantry Division, and on the weeklong stand at St. Vith that broke the back of the German attack. His argument, based on inferential reconstructions from archival sources, is unconvincing that Dwight Eisenhower knew of the planned offensive, deliberately weakened the Ardennes sector to draw Hitler's last reserves into a killing ground, then orchestrated a postwar cover-up of a decision so costly in American lives. The initial German successes are still best explained by the combination of intelligence failures and U.S. numerical weakness described in Charles MacDonald's definitive The Battle of the Bulge. (1984). Illustrations. (Sept.)