#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
