The Last Battle

Stephen Harding is a longtime journalist specializing in military affairs. For nearly two decades he was on the staff ofSoldiers, the official magazine of the US Army. Currently he is editor-in-chief ofMilitary History magazine. The author of seven previous non-fiction books, he lives in northern Virginia.

Documents the 1945 efforts of U.S. and German soldiers to rescue fourteen prominent French prisoners from an SS-guarded castle in the Austrian Alps, sharing insights into the motives behind the unlikely alliance.

Préface
From Military History magazine's editor-in-chief, Stephen Harding, The Last Battle tells the unlikely but true story of the last World War II battle fought by American troops in Europe, when U.S. Army regulars and Wehrmacht soldiers fought side by side to protect a castle full of French VIP prisoners from an attack by desperate and fanatical SS units bent on killing them in the war's waning days.

Texte du rabat

May 1945. Hitler is dead, and the Third Reich little more than smoking rubble. No GI wants to be the last man killed in action against the Nazis. But for hard-charging Captain Jack Lee and his men, there is one more mission: rescue 14 prominent French prisoners.

Résumé
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTUREMay, 1945. Hitler is dead, the Third Reich is little more than smoking rubble, and no GI wants to be the last man killed in action against the Nazis. The Last Battle tells the nearly unbelievable story of the unlikeliest battle of the war, when a small group of American tankers, led by Captain Lee, joined forces with German soldiers to fight off fanatical SS troops seeking to capture Castle Itter and execute the stronghold's VIP prisoners. It is a tale of unlikely allies, startling bravery, jittery suspense, and desperate combat between implacable enemies.