''A Bridge Too Far'' (1974) by

Cornelius Ryan Cornelius Ryan (5 June 1920 – 23 November 1974) was an Irish journalist and author known mainly for writing popular military history. He was especially known for his histories of World War II events: '' The Longest Day: 6 June 1944 D-Day'' (19 ...

gives an account of Operation Market Garden, a failed Allied attempt to break through German lines at

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

by taking a series of bridges in the occupied Netherlands during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Ryan named his book after a comment attributed to Lieutenant General

Frederick Browning Sir Frederick Arthur Montague Browning (20 December 1896 – 14 March 1965) was a senior officer of the British Army who has been called the "father of the British airborne forces". He was also an Olympic bobsleigh competitor, and the hu ...

before the operation, who reportedly said to Field Marshal

Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the ...

, "I think we may be going a bridge too far." But

Antony Beevor Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works, mainly on the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War, and most recently the Russian Revolution and Civil War. ...

disputes this, saying that Browning had supported the operation, especially in view of receiving more resources. Secondly he did not appear to have encountered Montgomery that day. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, Ryan documented his account of the 1944 battle with pictures and maps. He included a section on the survivors, "Soldiers and Civilians – What They Do Today". He addressed tactical mistakes made in planning the operation. Popular accounts of World War II tended to overlook the battle or to accept Field Marshal Montgomery's spin on it as being a "partial success". The 1974 book was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

in New York and by

Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited is a publishing imprint and originally a British publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half- Scot half- American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''Jame ...

in London. There were frequent later editions, and a film based on it was released in 1977. B: Book has no page numbers/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge Too Far, A 1974 non-fiction books 20th-century history books Non-fiction books adapted into films History books about World War II Bridge Too Far (book) Simon & Schuster books Works about battles and operations of World War II Allies of World War II