I give this book five stars. I’m not a historian so I have taken all the information within the book on face value. I guess there are more knowledgeable readers out there who may contest, or refute some of Anthony Beevor’s opinions. But this book gets the five stars from me for two main reasons. Firstly, the author deals with an extremely complex subject with hundreds of facts and personal first-hand accounts - from all sides - and yet he makes it very readable and engaging. To say it’s an easy read would be insulting, but I hope you know what I mean. Secondly, he gives varied accounts from all sides. The Allies, including a lot from the Polish perspective (what insight Maj. General Sosabowski had, borne out by historical hindsight). The German army’s view, again with some personal accounts (it was interesting to learn that if the roles were reversed Market Garden would not have been attempted by the German army). But my appreciation to Anthony Beevor is from the detailed civilian perspective he presents. From civic leader to housewife, school children to pensioner, from resistance to sympathiser. Till reading this book I had no knowledge of the level of suffering endured by the Dutch people. A large part of Holland remained under German occupation after the failure of Market Garden. The reprisals were systematic and brutal. Added to which the Dutch civilians (who survived) had to witness the destruction of their homes, towns, infrastructure, livelihoods and their essential bridges. To be destitute during a war is bad enough, look at the plight of the people in the early days of the Blitz, but to be destitute whilst under a brutal, unforgiving occupation is unimaginable. Yes, this book is about war, and strategy, and military egos, but more engagingly this book is also about civilian people - no different to you or me.

I had read only one previous book by Antony Beevor, which was 'D-Day.' It was nasty, brutish and quite long, a brilliant book but shocking since I had never had to get close to the horrors of war before reading it. The previous description also applies to this new book 'Arnhem.' There is much horror, a tiny amount of humour and a great deal of hardship. I had always assumed that an operation as large as 'Market Garden' would have been planned months, if not years in advance, much like D-Day. This book exposes the makeshift nature of the enterprise, Montgomery's pride and stupidity and the resulting disaster that was bound to follow. The astonishing thing is how long some of the units hung on, or even counter-attacked despite inadequate supplies and often inept officers. You can only feel pride for the ordinary men at the end of the book, since they have suffered so much, achieved a few small and miraculous victories but ultimately been defeated. This is an excellent book, brilliantly constructed and taking a multiplicity of views from the generals to the ordinary soldiers, from the Americans and Canadian to the British and some very disgruntled Poles. I can't recommend it enough though, for fans of military history I probably won't have to. For those not familiar with the genre, this is the pinnacle of the art but there are multiple horrors within.

I ordered the book both because of the author & a curiosity about the battle. The book is full of personal detail, scope & different personal narratives. Monty would probably be hurumphing in his grave whilst the much impugned Polish General Sobokowski might allow himself an enigmatic smile. The battle is mostly remembered in the UK as a glorious setback in the heroic Dunkirk mold. Beevor by quoting British Soldiers substantiates their bravery & steadfastness. It is not however an uncritical hagiography & the author poses pertinent questions about the British chain of command & perhaps our national character. The Germans whilst clearly the ‘bad guys’ are not portrayed as cartoon villains or efficient automatoms. He excels in also describing the oft ill recorded sacrifice of the Dutch civilians. The battle though furious & fragmented left a bitter legacy for the population. There was widespread spiteful reprisals by the Germans in the aftermath of this allied failure. Remarkable that the Dutch still appear to revere & celebrate the fallen Poles & British. Mr Beevor whilst an ex Army military historian succeeds in delivering an entertaining read whilst clearly setting out the folly of War & laying bare the inadequacies of the unfortunates caught up in the events. Highly recommended.

I have read other books by Antony Beevor and enjoy his style, so I had no hesitation in purchasing this book. It is a good read, well researched which provided me with new insights into the events pertinent to the battle of Arnhem. Despite this, I was a little disappointed in two areas - one minor, one major (in my opinion). First, the minor. During the beginning of the book, it was clear that Montgomery was at fault before the argument/evidence was provided to justify the reasoning. A question of style perhaps. On to the major point. The land battle is gone through in some detail as well as the air lift transporting the divisions to their drop zones. However, the level of air support (ground attack) was mentioned just in passing which I found to be curious. Clearly, when the support was available it played a key role in breaking up German formations/attacks etc. I found myself wondering just why for such a major attack it did not seem to have a coherent and integral ground attack capability supporting it. This area (planning, resources provided etc) was simply not explored in the book. There were a few vignettes which clearly demonstrated the value of such forces but, apart from a throw away comment, there was a distinct lack of analysis here. Hence a 3 star rating. To reiterate, a good read but, sadly, not one of Antony Beevor's best efforts