Seven Roads to Hell: A Screaming Eagle at Bastogne

"Seven Roads to Hell" is paratrooper Donald Burgett's memoire of the defense of Bastogne by elements of the 101st Airborne and 9th Armor Divisions during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. Burgett, a member of A Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, has captured the foxhole-level details of the heroic defense of that key Belgian crossroads. Burgett picks up the story as his unit goes into a rest area after the fierce fighting of Operation Market-Garden in Holland. His unit has been decimated by weeks of combat, and desperately needs rest and refit; instead, the tired and poorly equiped paratroopers are rushed to the front in the Ardennes to help stem a sudden German offensive. The paratroopers lack winter clothing, food, water, and ammunition, but with the elan of the airborne, undertake the defense of Bastogne against German tank and infantry units. Burgett has provided some commentary on the larger picture, but sticks largely to telling the story as it was visible to him. Burgett is nothing if not honest in his telling and graphic in his details. He and his fellow paratroopers freeze, starve, fight, and strive to make sense of the chaos that is ground-level combat. Burgett's prose is straightforward and he has a terrific eye for details. There is no sense here of the false heroic; Burgett and his mates are fighting for each other. This book, like Burgett's earlier book on D-Day, is highly recommended to the reader with an interest in the Second World War and especially in infantry combat. Those present and former members of the 506th Infantry may find it an especially inspiring piece of regimental history.

This is book 3 in a set of 4 books by the author, the books start with his training as a paratrooper, and follow his time in the war until he gets discharged after the war. The books in chronological order are 1)Currahee! 2) The Road to Arnhem 3) Seven Roads to Hell 4) Beyond the Rhime. For those who call WWII, the last "good war", this is a wake up. This war was just as full of horror and nightmare as any conflict, and the men treated as poorty. We get a view of the daily misery of the troops between the episodes of their bravery driven by the urge to kill or be killed. The author was a member of the Screaming Eagles 101st division, who was rushed to the participate in the Normandy invasion in order to hold Bastogne, where 7 roads converged. He who held Bastogne controlled the speed of access to the country and Bastogne was critical to the Battle of the Bulge. The division had not been able to receive the usual rest and resupply that comes after the big battle they had just returned from, when they were rushed into this fight and left there alone and outnumbered. They had little blankets, cold weather clothing, weapons, ammunition, heavy mechanized armour, medicical support, air support, or anything else they needed in order to do their job. This was not only due to poor planning, incompetence by commanders, confusing and conflicting orders, but even due to theft by other units of their precious goods. It is a miracle that they held out. They won and lost their positions many times, as the US troops frantically held onto the positions that would help keep other troops alive. This book is the most graphic and honest description of being an active fighting soldier in WWII I have read and left a deep impression on me. It is a great read, and I could not put it down. The authors style, language and pacing are very good, top notch!

Mr. Burgett was a 19 year old paratrooper in the 101st airborne who had the luck (good or bad) to witness some of the fiercest fighting that took place during the second world war. This book provides you with the feel from the trenches of those terrible dark days when it looked like the Wehrmacht and Hitler's Germany were striking forward again. The terrible cold, fear, and the brutality of the combat spring to life in this well written account. This text is an easy and quick read, I finished it on one 3 hour plane flight. Mr. Burgett participated in multiple attacks and defenses and his writing of them is extremely detailed as I suppose those memories linger quite clearly. This is not a book of strategy or an overview of the Battle of Bastogne, but simply how one man experienced the combat and the losses. No quarter was given or asked for. Prisoners were given no solace as there was no food, medicine or even men to guard them. This was combat in its rawest form. A good reminder to all of what war really is in its basic form - young men killing other young men. Mr. Burgett experienced this at arms length and is kind enough to share his experiences. Read this and be thankful for the freedom from fascism that we share!

If you are looking for a personal account of the siege of Bastogne during the battle of the bulge and the tremendous feat of the 101 Screaming Eagles or are just looking for a great non fiction thriller then get this book. Burgett was a member of the 506th and fought in some of the most bloody battles around Bastogne. But besides the awesome fighting sequences he describes the misery of the foxhole, freezing temps and patrols. But look for the cheap 5 dollar version of the books because it is the same thing including the pics. And if you like this then go back to the start and read Burgetts Curahee...an awesome account of his part in the airdrops during Normandy, also available in the cheap version...

Burgett's heart-stopping account of his role in the Battle of the Bulge is very skillfully written in his latest book Seven Roads to Hell. This book by far surpasses any other war book I have come across. The story is told to the T, with all the stops pulled. If you are looking for the real and unbridled version of World War II, then this book is a must-have. I recommend this book to the best of my ability. Terrific job Burgett!