At precisely 5:30 AM, Saturday morning, December 16, 1944, the misty calm of the Ardennes Forest was violently shattered by the deafening roar of nearly 85 miles of German guns. From the ancient city of Monschau in the north, all the way down to the resort city of Echternach in the south, the earth shook and the ground trembled for nearly an hour as practically every caliber of shell the Third Reich possessed was hurled at the American lines. This was the opening act of the famous and legendary campaign known to military history as: The Battle Of The Bulge. In volume one of the phenomenal book, The Ardennes On Fire, brilliant author Timothy J. Thompson details the intensive German military buildup in the weeks leading up to the massive attack, and then examines every parameter of day one of Hitler's greatest military gamble. This book is so riveting, you will never be able to put it down. Mr. Thompson provides the reader with more than 100 outstanding photographs, along with a full and comprehensive index as well. If you want to know how it happened and why it happened, this is the book for you. The Battle of the Bulge was one of the most thrilling campaigns in the history of warfare. Volume one of, The Ardennes On Fire, captures every aspect of it.