The Last Hill

Bob Drury and Tom Clavin’s The Last Hill is the incredible untold story of one Ranger battalion’s heroism and courage in World War II. They were known as ΓÇ£RudderΓÇÖs Rangers,ΓÇ¥ the most elite and experienced attack unit in the United States Army. In December 1944Lt. Col. James Rudder’s 2nd Battalion would form the spearhead into Germanytaking the war into HitlerΓÇÖs homeland at last. In the processRudder was given two objectives: Take Hill 400 . . . and hold the hill by any means possible. To the last manif necessary. The battle-hardened battalion had no idea that several Wehrmacht regimentswho greatly outnumbered the Rangershad been given the exact same orders. The clash of the two determined forces was one of the bloodiest and most costly encounters of World War II. Castle Hillthe imposing 1320-foot mini-mountain the American Rangers simply called Hill 400was the gateway to a desperate Nazi Germany. Several entire American divisions had already been repulsed by the last hill’s dug-in defenders asΓÇöunknown to the AlliesΓÇöthe height was the key to Adolf Hitler’s last-minute plans for a massive counterattack to smash through the American lines in what would become known to history as the Battle of the Bulge. Thus the stalemate surrounding Hill 400 could not continue. For Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight Eisenhowerthere was only one solution: Call in Rudder’s Rangers. Of the 130 special operators who stormedcapturedand held the hill that December dayonly 16 remained to stagger back down its frozen slopes. The Last Hill is replete with unforgettable action and charactersΓÇöa rich and detailed saga of what the survivors of the 2nd Ranger Battalion would remember as ΓÇ£our longest day.ΓÇ¥