Best Ardennes offensive book?

Hi all, I am looking for a good (the best) book about the Ardennes offensive 1944-1945. The unit of my interest - the U.S. 16th Infantry Regiment - lost a lot of men in Belgium in early 1945. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

Still worth the price of admission:
The battle of the bulge - Then and now.

Don't know when it was last updated, but still a massively detailed look at the campaign (if you can live with the 'Then & Now' format amongst the masses of detail - some do find it a little dry).

 

I second.

 

Imho there is one book you need to read first, that's Hugh M. Cole's "The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge" , from the US Army in World War II, European Theater of Operations series. It's the official US Army history. It's the best starting point, but it won't be enough! You should then also consider, as already mentioned, "A time for Trumpets", Danny S. Parker's "Battle of the Bulge - Hitler's Ardennes Offensive, 1944-1945" as well as Peter Caddick-Adsams " Snow and Steel".

 

Thanks for the suggestion! I have already read the official history by Cole. Would you suggest reading "A Time for Trumpets" or "Snow and Steel"?

"Snow and Steel" is already on my wish list at Amazon, but I have read a few conflicting reviews.

 

'A Time For Trumpets' is undoubtedly a classic but it has to be kept in mind that it was written in 1984. I personally rate 'Snow And Steel' highly because the author has made use of all the material written since. Many myths have been busted and new information unearthed in recent decades ( by authors and historians such as Reynolds, Wijers, the 'Duel In The Mist' team, etc etc ) and Caddick-Adams makes use of all of these to offer what is currently the most up-to-date narrative of the Battle.

 

So you would suggest reading "Snow and Steel" by Caddick-Adams?

 

Definitely!

 

Okay! I will check some book stores in Washington and Chicago next week before buying it here in the Netherlands.

 

One of our Dutch members, Timo, has announced that he is getting ready to publish his book on the Knittel group. Timo has spent years tracking down Knittel data and gathering info that is to be found nowhere else. Best of all, he's decided to publish the initial version in English. I suspect it will be a while before the book is actually on the shelves, but when it comes out there will be information not available anywhere else.

The book focuses on Knittel himself, so it will be bigger than just the Ardennes campaign, but I know that he has spent an extensive amount of time in Belgium speaking with witnesses there, so I'm sure it will fill many gaps.