Ritchie, Sebastian Arnhem. Myth and Reality. Airborne Warfare, Air Power and the Failure of Operation Market Garden

Operation "Market Garden", often depicted as one of the most decisive military actions of the Allied campaign, offered an opportunity to conclude hostilities with Hitler's Germany before 1945 but its disastrous failure left the Allies facing another seven months of difficult and costly fighting. In this revised new paperback edition of "Arnhem. Myth and Reality", Sebastian Ritchie demonstrates that the operation can only be properly understood if it is considered alongside earlier airborne ventures and reassesses the role of the Allied air forces and the widely held view that they bore a particular responsibility for "Market Garden's" failure. By placing "Market Garden" in its correct historical setting and by reassessing Allied air plans and their execution, this groundbreaking book provides a radically different view of the events of September 1944, challenging much of the current orthodoxy in the process.

It also reassesses the role of the Allied air forces, which were widely believed to be particularly culpable for the failure of Market Garden. By placing Market Garden in its proper historical context and reassessing the Allied air plans and their execution, this groundbreaking book offers a radically different view of the events of September 1944 and challenges much of the current thinking on the operation.