An enthralling account of the World War Two exploits of the U.S. Seventh Army, from Sicily to France to the final assault on Hitler’s mountain retreat, the Eagle’s Nest. Perfect for fans of Gregory A. Freeman, Alex Kershaw and Hampton Sides. Although overshadowed by the other Allied armies fighting in Europe, the impact of the U.S. Seventh Army on the course of the Second World War was monumental and its achievements deserve to be remembered. In Sicily, under the command of General George S. Patton, it swept away Axis forces as it captured village after village. It then moved northwards charging “up the gut” of Nazi-held Europe. Charles Whiting uncovers the actions of this overlooked army and its men—charging against dug-in German machine gun nests, launching ferocious attacks on the bloodied snows of the Alps, and fending off terrifying Panzer-led counterattacks. This book also draws attention to many of the fascinating figures who led it, from Patton to his successor as commander of the Seventh General Alexander “Sandy” Patch, to the numerous brilliant soldiers that fought under them, including the dynamic Lucian Truscott, daredevil Robert T. Frederick, aggressive “Iron Mike” O’Daniel, talented Frenchman Jacques LeClerc, and of course America’s most decorated soldier, Audie Murphy. “an enjoyable and illuminating account of this relatively forgotten army’s distinguished career.” HistoryNet “The U.S. Seventh Army has never had a volume devoted to thoroughly documenting its actions in WWII. Charles Whiting rights that wrong.” Publishers Weekly America’s Forgotten Army should be essential reading for all wishing to find out more about this force that smashed Nazi forces wherever it met them.
Author
Charles Whiting was a British writer and military historian and with some 350 books of fiction and non-fiction to his credit, under his own name and a variety of pseudonyms including Ian Harding, Duncan Harding, K.N. Kostov, John Kerrigan, Klaus Konrad, and Leo Kessler. Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years. After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy. His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II. One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer. "He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books." Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
