Book review: No Greater Valor by Jerome Corsi

This is a thorough and comprehensive take on the Battle of Bastogne by an author that has carefully researched the history of the battle and its main actors. The author augments the history of the battle by including brief profiles of some of the major actors in the battle to provide additional background to the reader. The mini profiles helped me understand better the action of the armies based on the personality of their generals.

For those not familiar with the history of the Battle of Bastogne, a brief background. As on may guess, this battle is one of the most famous battles in the later stages of the war in Western Europe and pitches the US Army under Generals such as Patton against German forces. Americans were at that point still badly supplied and had to dig in, literally dig holes in the forest floor, and fight against advancing German troops. It featured regiments such as 101st Airborne and the famous response to a German truce party by General McAucliffe "Nuts!". Needless to say, the battle story is not short on heroics and many soldiers showed exceedingly brave behavior. The author manages to capture the atmopshere of the battle, the mood of the soldiers and the toughness of the commanding officers with great detail and proving an in depth understanding of the history surrounding the battle.

I enjoyed reading this book because it had the right balance of the historical minutiae with its focus n battle details and then combined this with an ability to describe to the lay person the military aspects of the battle. Since this book was published by a Christian publisher, the author does note at times the role of faith in the battle, such as Patton sending a pamphlet with a prayer to his soldiers before a crucial stage in the battle. But overall, the Christian motifs are kept within reason and do not detract from the actual storyline, a comprehensive description of one of the decisive battles in the later stages of World War II in western Europe. 

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book through booksneeze.com for review. The opinion expressed is solely my own and has not been influenced by any third party.