Battle for the Ruhr: The German Army's Final Defeat in the West

Well told book that looks at one of the last western offensives of World War Two. Zumbro's fits well into the "new military history" that goes beyond the hermetically defined "battle field" that excludes civilians, and focuses on the population who was every bit a part of this campaign. Drawn heavily from primary sources from the German side, this book exhaustively recounts the tragedy/victory which resulted in the destruction of the German army on its western front in the teeth of an overwhelming Allied assault. Zumbro provides an hour by hour description of the undoing of the German army, forced to rely on children, old men, and threats against the very population it was defending. Zumbro conveys the strong sense of doom faced by this population, agonizing between the rock of German resistance and the hard place of American firepower.

"Battle For The Ruhr" is extremely well written and an absolute pleasure to read. I have personally read a number of World War II memoirs and battle histories over the years, but I have to say this book is now my favorite. The way Mr. Zumbro jumps artfully from the big picture of the conflict, down to the individual story of a single lowly soldier or villager, is wonderful. It makes for very interesting reading and you never feel like you are "pushing through" slow pages or chapters. As far as complaints about the lack of maps, I will admit more maps would have enhanced this book. However, if you are confused about the location of a particular city or town you can always look it up in Google maps (I have a decent understanding of where the cities are in Germany so I had no problems following the story). For those who say this book focuses on the activities and experiences of the German people too much. I am just not sure what else you would expect from a book about this specific period of WWII (especially when it is titled "Battle For The Ruhr: The German Army's Final Defeat in the West")? The military actions in the Ruhr at this late stage of the war were not marked by complex troop maneuvers and grand strategy. Instead most of the actions were short and fierce (which Mr. Zumbro covers in detail). An undeniably important part of telling this story is also sharing the experiences/interactions between the Allies and the German troops, the German civilian populations, and the droves of foreign laborers roaming free for the first time in many years. This book accomplishes all of this masterfully, and I wish more WWII books could be this interesting and well thought out. I was also very pleased that Mr. Zumbro cited references throughout this book, this is something we certainly need to see more of in other historical works. Overall I give it five stars and if you are interested in WWII in Europe, it is a must read!

In page after page of sickening detail, and fully documented with footnotes as to sources that include Official U.S. Government Reports, this book documents widespread PATERNS of conduct by American Soldiers that include rape and murder. Taken as a whole, these patterns constitute a powerfull indictment of the so-called "Greatest Generation" . . . of WAR CRIMINALS !

[When looking at the destruction done by the few that ran this small Pennsylvania-sized country, I am always bowled over. And, above and beyond the horrendous dismissal and destruction of the Jews, and the Polish, the Russian, and those who had any kind of alternative lifestyle, and on and on, until we come right down to the Native German People Themselves, these few who were in charge Stole and Destroyed Everything that any of the general populace owned, believed in, or held dear. The level of fear that would cause a people Not to Rise Up against their oppressors must have been terrible. Of course, after reaching a certain level of weakness, there would have been NO way they could have stopped the Nazi leadership as badly as I believe a majority would have liked to.] ~the Greek/Middle English descriptive "Holocaust" did have it right..."to destroy by fire"; "to burn"; "destroy completely"; "mass murder"; "genocide" Zumbro writes this truly great narrative of the Battle for the Ruhr Valley, the final days, of course, of Germany in World War II, from the viewpoint of the natives, which puts the Allies as the invaders of thier land. Certainly, a Most Interesting Viewpoint, and I must say I thought it works very well. I think we must legitimately recognize that the vast majority of German natives were, in most cases, helpless pawns under the thumbs of the Nazi leadership. So, after having been robbed of Everything they had, including their dignity, from their leaders, the Allies rolled in, destroying their last possessions, their homes and housing, in most cases because the German Field Officers were fearfull NOT to defend towns and villages, knowing they and their troops would be executed by the Nazi leaders. In a great many cases, these people did surrender themselves and their towns to the Allies, to much less damage, etc. It is heart-rending to see the level of loss that these unfortunate country-people, for the most part, suffered. Also, it was most interesting to see the workings/thought processes of the collapsing Nazi leadership in Berlin. This was also recently shown vividly to me by the movie "The Downfall" a couple years ago. I feel that Mr. Zumbro has certainly done his homework for this book, and also, he has not glossed over the wrong-doings that the Allies did, either, putting it right out there, as it should be, that we, ourselves, in many cases did wrong and committed crimes against these people that should not have been done. A Great, Informative Book. I Highly Recommend IT! ~operabruin

The main problem with writing a book like this is that most of the oral sources are now dead. This last September, I attended the Knohl family re-union, in Wuppertal, and there was only one man there who could remember anything about the battle for the Ruhr. He would have turned nine in 1945. Our Uncle Herbert(Knohl) was in the US Army CIC; and although he resented his tour of duty in the US Army, he talked about almost nothing else for the next fifty-three years. One of the things he mentioned was his shooting of two, high-ranking Nazi officials from Cologne. He told me his commander--a Texas Ranger was duly impressed; so much so, that he sent our uncle to Wuppertal to look at a prison facility there. While there, Uncle Herb met his father(our grandfather) on the street, and found that his parents had had nothing to eat for some time. He was able to get them food. My grandparents belonged to the Gemarkekirche in Barmen, which was quite notable in its opposition to Hitler. In fact, there was mention of a "death list", and that our grandparents' names were on it. I realize the author had quite a bit of information to cover, and he had to cover--mainly--the capture of the Ruhr, by the allies--and didn't have space to cover much of the aftermath. However,the author does mention a number of atrocities, by the Nazis, against the slave laborers, Soviet POW's, and those who dissented from the Nazi way of doing things. The author also mentions thefts, and atrocities commited by our side--which our Uncle Herb mentioned, but have been under-reported by the literature, until recently. In short, the book covers quite a bit of material; and I would recommend it to anybody interested in the era.