A British military historian offers an in-depth account of two critical offensives led by Allied troops against the Nazi power base on the Rhine, examining the strategies, military leaders, and campaign of the two airborne assaults, the events leading up to combat, the power struggle among Allied leadership, and the results of the battles on the war's outcome.

Dramatis personae -- The strategy of exploitation : The Allies, 25 Aug to 17 Sep 1944 -- Withdrawal : The Germans, 25 Aug to 17 Sep 1944 -- Chasing the dream : airborne warfare and its soldiers : the birth of parachuting to Summer 1944 -- Stitching things together : planning: 10-17 Sep 1944 -- Jumping the Rhine (1) : Operation market garden : 17-18 Sep 1944 -- Permieters: Operation Market Garden, 19-21 Sep 1944 -- Touching the Rhine : Operation Market Garden : 21-26 Sep 1944 -- Riposte : The Ardennes and advance to the Rhine : Oct 1944 to March 1945 -- The deluge : planning and launching plunder varsity: 10-24 March 1945 -- Jumping the Rhine (2) : Operation Varsity: 24-28 March 1945.