The German defeat in the Ardennes that took place in just four weeks over December 1944 and January 1945 signalled the beginning of the end of German resistance on the Western Front. In this work, military historian George Forty traces the whole story, drawing extensively on US sources to record how the GIs, many of them young and untested, faced up to the unexpected challenge. The complex course of the battle is related, and the author offers much background information on the size, organization and equipment of the opposing forces.