by Alex Kershaw
First published 2024
General George Patton faces his darkest hour in December 1944. Rain has turned European roads into mud rivers since September. American tanks crawl at snail pace. Clouds ground his warplanes while Germans reinforce their positions. The race to Berlin has become a deadly stalemate costing thousands of American lives. Patton calls his head chaplain with an unusual request. He wants a prayer for better weather. The chaplain writes one, and Patton distributes it to his 250,000 troops. They are told to pray constantly for clear skies and victory. Then the Germans launch their massive counteroffensive. Two hundred thousand enemy soldiers smash through weak American lines in the Ardennes Forest. They target the crossroads town of Bastogne, where the 101st Airborne digs in desperately. Fog blankets the battlefield, hiding German forces. A hundred miles south, Patton races against time on frozen roads. He needs his prayer answered before American forces are destroyed.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, war, military-fiction, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: against-the-clock, race-against-time
Setting: Ardennes Forest, Bastogne, Berlin
Period: December 1944
368 pages · Hardcover · Dutton