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Rating: 
Summary: A Splendid History of the 10th
Review: McKay Jenkins' The Last Ridge is the latest in a series of books about World War II where we see the war from the viewpoint of those who fought it.The 10th's story is a familiar one unless you've never heard it. The brainchild of "Minnie" Dole (no relation to later 10th Member and future senator Robert Dole) who struggled against the stodgy Army bureaucracy before gaining General Marshall's ear. Marshall, seeing that mountain troops were being used by all the belligerent armies, decided that a Mountain unit would be useful to the U.S. Army. So the 87th Mountain Regiment was born. Later, the 85th and 86th Regiments were added and thus, the 10th Mountain Division was born. After over two years of rigorous training, they finally saw action in Italy in 1945. Passed over by Ike's Chief of Staff Walter Bedell Smith, Mark Clark, the commander of the Allied field armies in Italy snapped up the 10th. It was one of his greatest moves. The 10th, in a series of daring maneuvers and risky night climbing seized enemy held ridges and finished 114 days in combat suffering higher casualty percentages than other divisions. Jenkins' book views the 10th's actions from both the high command and the soldiers who did the fighting. He mainly sticks to the fighting men for most of the book. Minor errors creep into the text. General Truscott's first name was Lucian, not Lucien and it's General Walter Bedell Smith, not just Bedell. Still, it's a solid, fast moving story and a first rate war adventure. Recommended
Rating: 
Summary: As told by the soldier in the field
Review: The tale of the 10th Mountain Division is an amazing story and Jenkins does a very good job at telling it to the reader. Churchill called Italy the soft underbelly of Europe, but the reader learns that nothing could be further than the truth. The country is littered with mountain ranges that made for excellent defensive positions for the German soldiers. Attack after attack on the German line was repelled until the soldiers of the Mountain Division were called in and to began the push forward up steep mountains in the cover of darkness. This is not one of those history books where they author tells the story of a division of soldiers in a chronologically accurate, yet dry manner. Jenkins spent a lot of time researching for this book by going through personal journals of both US and German soldiers who were involved in the battles as well as other sources. The research allowed Jenkins to tell the story of the 10th Mountain Division through the writing of the soldiers themselves. The reader knows the names and learns the thoughts of the soldiers the story follows through the training and combat that the division faced in the pacific and in Italy. Jenkins has tied the journal excerpts together with narrative and information from other sources. Hearing the story first hand brings the reality of the horror of war home to the reader. We follow soldier after soldier who Jenkins later tells the reader was killed in battle. The losses that the division suffered were staggering, but not nearly as many as were expected by their command due to the difficultly of the terrain and the assignments which the soldiers took on. One of the wounded soldiers whose name is well known was Bob Dole. Jenkins tells the story of how Dole lost the use of his right hand and how Dole suffered and persevered though struggle after struggle, as he willed himself to live through paralysis, kidney failure, high fever and surgeries. Not that the book is only about the horror. There stories of comrade, bravery, honor and humanity. And there are humorous moments as the soldiers did the best they could with what was around them. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: As told by the soldier in the field
Review: The tale of the 10th Mountain Division is an amazing story and Jenkins does a very good job at telling it to the reader. Churchill called Italy the soft underbelly of Europe, but the reader learns that nothing could be further than the truth. The country is littered with mountain ranges that made for excellent defensive positions for the German soldiers. Attack after attack on the German line was repelled until the soldiers of the Mountain Division were called in and to began the push forward up steep mountains in the cover of darkness. This is not one of those history books where they author tells the story of a division of soldiers in a chronologically accurate, yet dry manner. Jenkins spent a lot of time researching for this book by going through personal journals of both US and German soldiers who were involved in the battles as well as other sources. The research allowed Jenkins to tell the story of the 10th Mountain Division through the writing of the soldiers themselves. The reader knows the names and learns the thoughts of the soldiers the story follows through the training and combat that the division faced in the pacific and in Italy. Jenkins has tied the journal excerpts together with narrative and information from other sources. Hearing the story first hand brings the reality of the horror of war home to the reader. We follow soldier after soldier who Jenkins later tells the reader was killed in battle. The losses that the division suffered were staggering, but not nearly as many as were expected by their command due to the difficultly of the terrain and the assignments which the soldiers took on. One of the wounded soldiers whose name is well known was Bob Dole. Jenkins tells the story of how Dole lost the use of his right hand and how Dole suffered and persevered though struggle after struggle, as he willed himself to live through paralysis, kidney failure, high fever and surgeries. Not that the book is only about the horror. There stories of comrade, bravery, honor and humanity. And there are humorous moments as the soldiers did the best they could with what was around them. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Last Ridge
Review: When I was a child, my family had two friends who served with the 10th mountain division. The great and renound Norwegian Ski jumper and Olympic coach Alf Engen, known as "Mr.Ski" in Utah, and the excellent hollywood ice skater Gary Stephen. As was the nature among the gentlemen of that era, neither said much about their wartime experience. I believe Alf remained in the States as an instructor, perhaps due to his age, and Gary was commissioned and served in Italy.
Alf Engen is mentioned in the book Gary Stephen is not but at last I know the history of their contribution.
Mr. Jenkins writes a very nicely presented work with the perfect blend of personal encounters and military and political facts. As a military history buff I appreciated his generalized description of the Italian campaign and the politics on which it was based which led to the deployment of the only American trained mountain troops.
One minor comlaint is weapons discription. What should be '.30 caliber' is described as 30 milimeter and the German "Schmeiser sub-machine gun is described as a "burp gun" which I believe was the description of a Russian weapon. The de-actived German Schmeiser souvenir Gary Stephen brought back he did not call a "burp gun". Pardon this nit-picking in no way do these minor errors detract from the quality of the book.
This is a good read for the Military buff or anyone who enjoys well written non-fiction. I plan to give a copy to my 11 year old grand son.
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