The Bridge at Remagen: The Amazing Story of March 7, 1945- The Day the Rhine River Was Crossed

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant History
Review: Hopefully this review will provide prospective buyers what they need to know.

As good as the original paperback version of this book was when it was first written, Pictorial Histories have put out an even better version with this large softcover offering, including rare photos of the major participants that the original lacked.

This is an excellent account of the encounter between Company A of the 27th Armored Infantry Regiment and the German defenders of the Ludendorff Bridge in March 1945. The main characters on both sides are brilliantly fleshed out by the author, and the strategies and tactics on both sides give a good look of both the big picture and the actual events of the battle itself.

Very nice additional chapter on the making of the movie is just icing on the cake.

Hechler was actually in the US Army in 1945 and is a solid historian. Only drawback may be lack of footnotes for the scholarly minded, but this book still gets a 5 for its coverage of the battle itself, and the aftermath - including German efforts to destroy the bridge, the postwar careers of some of the main players, the final collapse of the span itself, and the summary trials of the German defenders.

All battles deserve the kind of coverage this little skirmish recieves in this well written, suspenseful, and exciting book. So well written you might think it is fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Superlative account
Review: My interest in the Second World War was rekindled by reading the bestseller WWII book, "The Triumph and the Glory", part of which was devoted to the Remagen Bridge capture. "The Bridge at Remagen" filled in all of the details about how the Rhine was breached in fine fashion, the author has done a great job describing the events surrounding one of the great episodes of WWII.

Rating:
Summary: Locating History
Review: One of my favorite books relating to WWII is "The Bridge at Remagen" and had I the opportunity to witness a portion of the movie set, on location at Remagen on the Rhine River. I was attending Frankfurt American High School 1968 through 1970 and had the fortune of watching the movie set which was used for all the on-site location shoots for the David Wolper Film. I had gone on a Rhine River Cruise in 1968 and stopped to observe the film shooting that took place. The movie was released a year later and became a huge box office hit in 1969. I read the first paperback in 1978 by Ken Hechler and consequently his 1994 book with the same title. I found the book to be historicaly accurate and intensely focused on the human factor of the major caracters in the story. I would recommend that if all possible, any reader should visit the Museum opened in one of the original Towers at the the site of the former bridge that pays homage to the events and lives from March 7th, 1945. Take the Rhine River Cruise that starts in Bingen and goes north to Bonn past Remagen; you will see the most incredible sights of the Castles and the Rhine Valley, sending you back in time to help you experience the book. My wife and I just took the tour in August and I had to read the book again.

Rating:
Summary: Locating History
Review: One of my favorite books relating to WWII is "The Bridge at Remagen" and had I the opportunity to witness a portion of the movie set, on location at Remagen on the Rhine River. I was attending Frankfurt American High School 1968 through 1970 and had the fortune of watching the movie set which was used for all the on-site location shoots for the David Wolper Film. I had gone on a Rhine River Cruise in 1968 and stopped to observe the film shooting that took place. The movie was released a year later and became a huge box office hit in 1969. I read the first paperback in 1978 by Ken Hechler and consequently his 1994 book with the same title. I found the book to be historicaly accurate and intensely focused on the human factor of the major caracters in the story. I would recommend that if all possible, any reader should visit the Museum opened in one of the original Towers at the the site of the former bridge that pays homage to the events and lives from March 7th, 1945. Take the Rhine River Cruise that starts in Bingen and goes north to Bonn past Remagen; you will see the most incredible sights of the Castles and the Rhine Valley, sending you back in time to help you experience the book. My wife and I just took the tour in August and I had to read the book again.