Seven Roads to Hell: A Screaming Eagle at Bastogne
by Donald R. Burgett
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Book Summary Information
Author: Donald R. BurgettEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-05
ISBN: 0440236274
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Dell
Book Reviews of Seven Roads to Hell: A Screaming Eagle at Bastogne
Book Review: Graphic and grim memoir masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a cracker of a read! Burgett is with `A' Co, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne and this is his account of his Bulge (his experiences in the 101st's other three campaigns being recounted in separate books). Things start with the relief of being withdrawn from the fighting in Holland, only to be flung straight back into the fray following the Ardennes attack. Despite being poorly equipped and with no time to integrate replacements, Burgett's unit finds itself at Norville, directly in the path of the 5th Panzer Army. No other author recounts tank attacks like these! Burgett reveals the battles in a multitude of detail. He takes the reader everywhere, massed combined arms attacks, artillery barrages, counterattacks and he doesn't spare the gore. From defence to the breakout back to Bastogne, it's unrelenting.
This continues in `The Woods fight', an astonishing account of fast and furious combat. Again, Burgett is honest about the blood and particularly notably, his own contribution to making it flow! This is one of the very few books that an author has been so explicit about killing his enemies. While artillery may have killed over half of the World War dead, men like Burgett took care of the other half! It is gripping and even shocking. Especially so regarding the various outcomes for wounded Germans. There is stuff here that stays with you.
This is combat at its rawest. Brutal and blunt and blow by blow. It is pulsating stuff, very vivid and fast paced. There are a few hyperbolic passages but these fitted Ok and worked for me. Burgett names names too. His actions are verifiable and his comrades identified by their full names. Both Ambrose and Bando write glowingly of Burgett and his accounts have been used widely as primary material. Burgett really reveals the tough nature of the airborne soldiers. As well as revealing the extremely difficult position that they found themselves in. The frustration of being committed with no chance to reorganise and re-equip and be properly supplied is very evident. Yet, the camaraderie and fighting spirit prevails despite everything. It is humbling stuff.
Burgett's book is top shelf. It is a very exciting read and in terms of actual face to face combat, it is unmatched on this list. It is as intense as Foley but less blurred and absolutely verifiable. (Though there is a recount of an atrocity that I've never heard of before, an attack on a hospital, including the throat cutting of wounded Americans). There is a different tone and scope compared to Gantter but the action is more intense. It is perhaps a little like the `pulp' war books, with the distinguishing difference, that it's all real. In many respects it is the best combat memoir here. Burgett is a gruff, grim and fearsome soldier and he is only 19. A stunning read.
Summary of Seven Roads to Hell: A Screaming Eagle at Bastogne
In December 1944, Hitler launched a desperate massive counterstrike at the Allies, with thirty-eight German divisions slamming through American lines. Then the 101st Airborne was thrown into the fight. Fresh from seventy-two brutal days of combat in Holland, with little food and ammunition, the Screaming Eagles struck back-and stunned the German forces. Then the real battle for the town of Bastogne-and its seven key roads-began...This powerful, action-packed memoir puts us in the middle of the legendary fighting force known as the Screaming Eagles. Along the way, Donald R. Burgett, just nineteen years old at the time of the battle, vividly captures some of the most horrific action of World War II. From point-blank tank assaults to hand-to-hand combat, Private Burgett and his cold, hungry, and wounded fellow paratroopers stood against an overwhelming enemy force-and won the battle that secured victory for the Allies in World War II.
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