Author Description

Eisenhower's Six Great Decisions, first published in 1956, reviews the six crucial turning points in the European war that resulted in the Allies successfully landing in Normandy in June 1944, to the German surrender less than one year later. Author General Walter Bedell Smith, Eisenhower's Chief of Staff, friend, and confidant, describes the 'great decisions' as: (1) The timing of Operation Overlord (The Normandy Landings); (2) how to break out of the Normandy hedgerows; (3) the Ardennes Counteroffensive (Battle of the Bulge); (4) how to destroy or capture all German forces west of the Rhine; (5) how to encircle the industrial heartland of Germany (the Ruhr); and (6) how to end the war in Europe.