Rapid Reads

In September 1944, having just barely escaped the carnage of the Falaise Pocket, the Waffen-SS Panzer divisions Frundsberg and Hohenstaufen were sent by train to Arnhem, a town in the eastern Netherlands. Here they were supposed to have a month or two of rest and refitting, bringing them back up to strength after more then two months of punishing combat assignments in Normandy. This was not to be, however. On 17 September they found themselves at the 'tip of the spear', guarding the last of a series of strategic river crossings against the massive air and land offensive known as Operation Market Garden.

This book tells the story of the twin battles fought by II SS Panzer Corps over the next week. One was a brutal close-quarters infantry battle against the British paratroopers, the other a masterful fighting retreat against the advancing armor of British XXX Corps. Backed by a handful of Panzerjäger IVs, King Tigers, and StuG III assault guns, the Waffen-SS managed to fight the most daring Allied offensive of the war to a bloody standstill.