An explosive new history of the battle immortalized in A Bridge Too Far, where paratroopers fought in vain to secure a bridgehead over the Rhine. Reveals the real reason why the daring attack failed The Daily Express The originality of this book lies in its exploration of the long term origins of the battle as well as in its account of the fighting itself. An excellent read Hew Strachan On Sunday September 17, 1944, over 2,000 transport aircraft lifted off from airfields across England and set a course for Holland. They were the first wave of the largest airborne operation in history, code-named Operation Market Garden. Their task was to open a sixty-mile corridor for Allied ground forces from the Belgian border to Arnhem on the Lower Rhine. Nine days later, the remnants of the British 1st Airborne Division were evacuated from a precarious foothold seven miles west of Arnhem having failed utterly. William Buckinghams account, based on new research, unearths the reasons why the attack really failed. William F. Buckingham has recently completed his PhD on the establishment and initial development of a British airborne force. His other books include D-Day: The First 72 Hours, also published by Tempus. Part of the Battles & Campaigns series, edited by Hew Strachan, Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford.