The Longest Winter
Eighteen men of an intelligence platoon hold off a German battalion on the first morning of the Bulge — then vanish into POW camps.
The Verdict
On the first morning of the Battle of the Bulge, eighteen men of an American intelligence and reconnaissance platoon dug in on a hill called Lanzerath and held up the spearhead of an entire German battle group for most of a day — buying time that mattered, then disappearing into captivity for the rest of the war. Alex Kershaw rescues their stand from forty years of obscurity, follows them into the POW camps, and makes a strong case that this was the most decorated American platoon of the war. A small action with outsized consequences, vividly told.
Who Should Read It
Read it if you want
- A pivotal small-unit stand at the Bulge
- A focused, dramatic episode
- The price paid in delay and captivity
- A forgotten action recovered
Look elsewhere if you want
- The whole Battle of the Bulge (try A Time for Trumpets)
- Operational or strategic breadth
- The German side
Why We Rated It 4.4
Historical Context
The Longest Winter (2004) recounts the stand of an 18-man Intelligence and Reconnaissance platoon at Lanzerath on 16 December 1944, the opening day of the Battle of the Bulge, where they delayed Kampfgruppe Peiper before being captured. Kershaw argues they became the most decorated US platoon of the war.
Events Covered
Read It Alongside
Where to Buy
ISBN: 978-0306813047
Other Books About the Same Events
Frequently Asked Questions
- What did the platoon at Lanzerath achieve?
- A small group held up a much larger German force for most of the Bulge's first day, delaying the advance of Kampfgruppe Peiper before being overrun and captured.
- How does it relate to A Time for Trumpets?
- MacDonald's A Time for Trumpets covers the whole battle; The Longest Winter zooms in on one decisive small-unit action.