The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 -- Rick Atkinson, Hardcover

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The magnificent conclusion to Rick Atkinson's acclaimed Liberation Trilogy about the Allied triumph in Europe during World War II

It is the twentieth century's unrivaled epic: at a staggering price, the United States and its allies liberated Europe and vanquished Hitler. In the first two volumes of his bestselling Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson recounted how the American-led coalition fought through North Africa and Italy to the threshold of victory. Now, in The Guns at Last Light, he tells the most dramatic story of all--the titanic battle for Western Europe.

D-Day marked the commencement of the final campaign of the European war, and Atkinson's riveting account of that bold gamble sets the pace for the masterly narrative that follows. The brutal fight in Normandy, the liberation of Paris, the disaster that was Operation Market Garden, the horrific Battle of the Bulge, and finally the thrust to the heart of the Third Reich--all these historic events and more come alive with a wealth of new material and a mesmerizing cast of characters. Atkinson tells the tale from the perspective of participants at every level, from presidents and generals to war-weary lieutenants and terrified teenage riflemen. When Germany at last surrenders, we understand anew both the devastating cost of this global conflagration and the enormous effort required to win the Allied victory.

With the stirring final volume of this monumental trilogy, Atkinson's accomplishment is manifest. He has produced the definitive chronicle of the war that unshackled a continent and preserved freedom in the West.

One of The Washington Post's Top 10 Books of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2013

Author: Rick Atkinson
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Published: 05/14/2013
Pages: 896
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.53lbs
Size: 9.49h x 6.47w x 1.83d
ISBN: 9780805062908
Award: Society of Midland Authors Award - Winner

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 12/01/2012 pg. 58
Publishers Weekly 01/07/2013 pg. 51
Kirkus Reviews 03/01/2013
Library Journal 04/01/2013 pg. 89
Booklist 04/01/2013 pg. 16
New York Times Book Review 05/26/2013 pg. 9
New York Times Book Review 06/02/2013 pg. 54
People Weekly 08/26/2013 pg. 49
Kirkus Best Nonfiction 12/01/2013 pg. 4
NY Times Notable Bks of Year 12/08/2013 pg. 28
Library Journal 12/01/2012

About the Author

Rick Atkinson is the bestselling author of An Army at Dawn (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for history), The Day of Battle, The Long Gray Line, In the Company of Soldiers, and Crusade. His many other awards include a Pulitzer Prize for journalism, the George Polk award, and the Pritzker Military Library Literature Award. A former staff writer and senior editor at The Washington Post, he lives in Washington, D.C.