'Arnhem' by Antony Beevor (Audible)

[CountryBoy]

I recently finished the Audible version of 'Arnhem' by Antony Beevor and thought I would write a quick review of the book.

Firstly, the book was excellently narrated by Sean Barrett (who also seems to have done most of Beevor's other books). A good narrator is critical in an audiobook and Barrett is excellent. Deep, gravely, serious and perfectly fitted to military history. 

As for the book itself, it was up to Beevor's usual high standards. It provided a thorough review of the events leading up to Market Garden, including the political angles (he really doesn't like Monty, who comes across as a real egotist). Each area of operations is covered in detail, including all the airborne landings (some good descriptions of what the paras were going through as they neared the DZ). He fiercely defends the Polish paras, who were saddled with a lot of the blame for the debacle at/near Arnhem and I think does a good job of pointing out how the Poles were basically screwed over in regard to the fallout from Market Garden. He also outlines the situation facing the 1st British Airborne Division in extensive detail, with a lot of graphic detail of the terrible conditions the paras ended up fighting through. The intensity of the battles, as described by Beevor, were quite something.

All in all, I readily recommend the book for anyone who is interested in Market Garden. At the same time as I was reading the book I played the PzC campaign game of Market Garden (only against the AI unfortunately) and enjoyed the combination of moving units around the battlefield at the same time that I was listening to the historical account of what actually happened.