Ridgway's Paratroopers: The American Airborne in World War II

Blair tells the story in gripping battlefield narrative to capture the experiences of the soldiers who served in these elite units at Salerno, Naples, Anzio, Normandy, and elsewhere. At the same time he provides a frank analysis of the development of the airborne techniques and of the attention given to the political-military-strategic issues that influenced their deployment. With Ridgway as its central figure, this dramatic account includes such other major players as George Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mark Clark, and Bernard Montgomery, along with such future greats of American airborne warfare as James Gavin, Maxwell Taylor, and Tony McAuliffe. Densely packed with information, the book, first published in 1985, is widely acknowledged for its engagingly honest analysis of Ridgway and airborne operations in Europe.