Forty-Seven Days: How Pershing's Warriors Came of Age to Defeat the German Army in World War I

Mitchell Yockelson

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Offering an abundance of new details and insight, Forty-Seven Days is the definitive account of the First Army's hard-fought victory in World War I—and the revealing tale of how our military came of age in its most devastating battle.

The gripping account of the U.S. First Army’s astonishing triumph over Germans in America’s bloodiest battle of the First World War – the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne.

The Battle of the Meuse-Argonne stands as the deadliest clash in American history: More than a million untested American soldiers went up against a better-trained and-experienced German army, costing more than twenty-six thousand deaths and leaving nearly a hundred thousand wounded. Yet in forty-seven days of intense combat, those Americans pushed back the enemy and forced the Germans to surrender, bringing the First World War to an end—a feat the British and the French had not achieved after more than three years of fighting. In Forty-Seven Days, historian Mitchell Yockelson tells how General John J. 'Black Jack' Pershing's exemplary leadership led to the unlikeliest of victories. Appointed commander of the American Expeditionary Forces by President Wilson, Pershing personally took command of the U.S. First Army until supplies ran low and the fighting ground to a stalemate. Refusing to admit defeat, Pershing stepped aside and placed gutsy Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett in charge. While Pershing retained command, Liggett reorganized his new unit, resting and resupplying his men, while instilling a confidence in the doughboys that drove them out of the trenches and across no-man's-land. Also explored are a cast of remarkable individuals, including America's original fighter ace, Eddie Rickenbacker; Corporal Alvin York, a pacifist who nevertheless single-handedly killed more than twenty Germans and captured 132; artillery officer and future president Harry S. Truman; innovative tank commander George S. Patton; and Douglas MacArthur, the Great War's most decorated soldier, who would command the American army in the Pacific War and in Korea. Offering an abundance of new details and insight, Forty-Seven Days is the definitive account of the First Army's hard-fought victory in World War I—and the revealing tale of how our military came of age in its most devastating battle.

Includes Photos

Published: 2 May 2016
ISBN: 9780451466952
Imprint: Nal
Format: Hardback
Pages: 400
RRP: $49.99

Categories:

History

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Praise for Forty-Seven Days: How Pershing's Warriors Came of Age to Defeat the German Army in World War I

On September 26, 1918, the American Expeditionary Forces began the Battle of the Argonne Forest lacking a strategy, experience, or an understanding of what lay ahead. Forty-seven days later, at battle's end, the back of the German army had been broken and General John J. Pershing had secured his place as one of the great generals in American history. The story of this pivotal battle has never been better told than it is here. Mitchell Yockelson expands our understanding not only of how World War I ended, but also of how militaries can change and adapt under conditions of great adversity
Max Boot, New York Times Bestselling author of The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power and Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present Day

Get ready to dig into one of the wildest and deadliest battles in history. The beautifully researched Forty-Seven Days takes you right there and shows you all the minute details, from the pings of a bullet to Pershing's confidence and fears
Brad Meltzer, New York Times Bestselling author of The President's Shadow

The Meuse-Argonne campaign in 1918 was the most significant battle fought by American Doughboys in World War I. In Forty-Seven Days, Mitchell Yockelson has written a superbly researched account of their coming of age under the leadership of General John J. 'Black Jack' Pershing. This book will take its place as one of the best books written about the largest and one of the deadliest campaigns in American military history
Carlo D'Este, author of Patton: A Genius for War

Mitchell Yockelson has become a preeminent World War I historian. With an absorbing narrative, fast pacing, and gritty detail, his Forty-Seven Days brings to life that war's final and bloody Meuse-Argonne offensive, when General John 'Black Jack' Pershing and more than one million American and French soldiers broke the back of the mighty German army
Douglas Waller, New York Times Bestselling author of Disciples and Wild Bill Donovan