11 Days in December: a Book Review

11 Days in December: Christmas at the bulge, 1944
By Stanley Weintraub

There are many books that do a much better job of covering the events at the bulge and don’t indulge in finger pointing and attempting to find some one to blame for the German’s ability to punch deep into allied territory.  11 Days was a loosely tied bunch of non sequitur anecdotes about the Bulge. Lacking were any first person interviews and helpful maps.  The fact all the information was second hand detracts from the credibility of this book and the single poorly drawn map presented in the beginning of the book did little to orientate the reader with the region. Maps showing the progress of the conflict through out the book would have made things more understandable, though even the maps might not help because the book jumped from one war story to the next making it tough to discern any coherence whatsoever. It was painful wading through this book.

“The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of WWII's Most Decorated Platoon” by Alex Kershaw or “Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest” by Stephen Ambrose would be better choices if one wishes to read about the Battle of the Bulge.