Document created: 1 March 06
Air & Space Power Journal - Spring 2006

Battle of the Bulge: Hitler’s Alternate Scenarios edited by Peter Tsouras. Greenhill Books (http://www.greenhillbooks.com), Park House, 1 Russell Gardens, London NW11 9NN, 2004, 256 pages, $34.95 (hardcover).

What would have happened if Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery had captured Caen, France, on 7 June 1944 instead of on 9 July? If British paratroopers had held “the bridge too far” in Operation Market Garden? If Patton’s Third Army had failed to relieve the 82nd and 101st Airborne paratroopers in besieged Bastogne in late December 1944? To answer these questions, Battle of the Bulge provides alternate versions of some of the major battles of Northwest Europe, 6 June 1944 to 7 May 1945.

Peter Tsouras, a distinguished military historian, and some well-known colleagues offer interesting and imaginative accounts of major battles of Northwest Europe from D-day to VE-day. Each author slightly alters a critical decision or event of the historical record to produce an alternate outcome. Using actual battles, actions, and characters, they show how a different choice or minor incident at points of decision could have produced an entirely new sequence of events, thus altering history forever. I found myself looking hard for the changed decision/event because the authors so successfully and smoothly integrate it into the historical narrative. Additionally, they provide not only easy-to-read maps so the reader can readily follow the battle but also bibliographies—including fictional sources to account for the altered decisions, actions, and comments of participants.

The only scenario that appears spurious is the one written by the editor himself. Tsouras has President Roosevelt dying in January rather than April 1945, so Vice Pres. Henry Wallace, a leftist if not a communist, becomes president and delays the inauguration of Vice Pres.–elect Harry Truman as president. (Remember that presidential elections were held in November and that the inauguration occurred the following March.) As a result, Wallace appoints leftists as his advisers, and Stalin sees a chance to gain control of the US government. Lavrenty Beria, Stalin’s security chief, has Gen George C. Marshall, the chief of staff, dying (murdered) in an airplane explosion on his way to Europe, and Generals Patton and MacArthur launch a military coup in Washington, DC, to save the government and war effort. This reads more like fiction than alternative history!

Alternative (“counterfactual”) history has its critics, who argue that, after all, this genre by its very nature is not “real” history. However, in many ways, those who write alternate history, especially of the high quality one finds in Battle of the Bulge, are just taking historians’ speculations a step further. Understanding Clausewitz’s “fog of war,” they take a different look at the historical record and demonstrate that every problem always has alternatives. Why does a historical actor behave one way over another or make one decision instead of another? Good alternative history can provide insight into the results of the decision—the way not taken—as a means of understanding the very nature of history and decision making.

Lt Col Robert B. Kane, USAF, Retired
Eglin AFB, Florida

Disclaimer

The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.