In most accounts of World War II, the last six months of fighting in Europe are tucked into an epilogue. After the Battle of the Bulge, the Nazis are assumed to be as good as defeated. In fact, they fought to their last breath. In the Hürtgen Forest, in the Po Valley of Italy, and in the German industrial heartland of the Ruhr, the Allies suffered horrific losses.

Drawing on never-before-published sources, Barry Turner captures the thrill of victory, the despair of defeat, and the staggering human costs of war. From the grunts on the ground to the machinations of generals and statesmen and the daily miseries of civilians caught in the crossfire, Turner brings this critical chapter of World War II searingly and indelibly to life.