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Who We Are | Our Mission | Our Books | How to Order | Contact Us |
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About the Author
In the 1980s, to slake his thirst for understanding what was happening beyond the edge of his platoon sector four decades before, author Richard Engler-himself a combat infantryman veteran of this campaign-conducted extensive research at the National Archives and US Army Military History Institute. In the resultant work, the author masterfully nests the story of his rifle platoon's combat experiences into a concentric set of frameworks, including action at the division, corps, and field army levels. As a result, the reader has the rare opportunity to understand those issues denied to most infantrymen during combat, that is, "The Big Picture," and how the exigencies of war at multiple echelons affected-or didn't affect-actions at the platoon and company levels. Engler also provides an informative description and evaluation of the action on "the other side of the fence," and has provided an unusually complete description of the German side of NORDWIND, especially that portion which occurred on the Alsatian Plain in the second and third weeks of January 1945. As a trained sociologist (as well as an automatic rifleman), the author carefully places all of the action within the context of the panoply of American life in the last stage of World War II. Without resorting to scientific jargon, but with the unmistakable skill of an acute observer of man as a member and product of his society, Engler helps the audience better understand the cultural impacts of modern war on young and-in his unit's case-unprepared Americans. Although The Final Crisis is excellent military history, the resulting story transcends the genre, and stands alone as a unique work that is at once a comprehensive history of a too-little-studied campaign, a candid and deeply-personal memoir, and keen sociological analysis, all couched in eminently readable and arresting prose. 
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The Final Crisis Combat in Northern Alsace, January 1945 by Richard Engler
+ shipping (see How to Order) Members of the 42nd Infantry Division Association and their family members $27.95 All members of the Rhine and Danube Association are eligible for a 10% discount. 
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