The Winter Army

The World War II Odyssey of the 10th Mountain Division, America's Elite Alpine Warriors

By: Maurice Isserman

Narrated by: Brian Troxell

WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL SKIING HISTORY ASSOCIATION'S ULLR AWARD, the epic story of the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division, whose elite soldiers broke the last line of German defenses in Italy’s mountains in 1945, spearheading the Allied advance to the Alps and final victory.

At the start of World War II, the US Army had two cavalry divisions—and no mountain troops. The German Wehrmacht, in contrast, had many well-trained and battle-hardened mountain divisions, some of whom by 1943 blocked the Allied advance in the Italian campaign. Starting from scratch, the US Army developed a unique military fighting force, the 10th Mountain Division, drawn from the ranks of civilian skiers, mountaineers, and others with outdoor experience. The resulting mix of Ivy League students, park rangers, Olympic skiers, and European refugees formed the first specialized alpine fighting force in US history. By the time it deployed to Italy at the beginning of 1945, this ragtag group had coalesced into a tight-knit unit. In the months that followed, at a terrible cost, they spearheaded the Allied drive in Italy to final victory.

Ranging from the ski slopes of Colorado to the towering cliffs of the Italian Alps, The Winter Army is a saga of an unlikely band of soldiers forged in the heat of combat into a brotherhood whose legacy lives on in US mountain fighters to this day.

Great WWII story

How a bunch of rich boys end up winning a major battle in the war. How the unit suffered threw cold and heat.

great history.

I loved the history and details bout all of the battles of the 10th Mountain Division. being a veteran of the 10th Mountain Division, I would have loved a second book or something that brought the reactivation of 10th mountain and how it came to be in upstate NY. I guess I'll have to read someone else's documentary on that. but this was still an amazing book of how my 10th Mountain Division came to be. Very cool. CLIMB TO GLORY!

American Exceptionalism

I was privileged to have known several of the men of the 10th and to have benefited from their legacy to the ski industry. There is little any of them found heroic in war, but there was honor, innovation and pioneering in the years subsequent. With love and thanks to each of them.

So-so

Narration is clear.

I feel sorry for the 10th. To have been trained so arduously, but used so sparingly, must have been a disappointment. At least they found action in this closing ww2 action.