World War II Database

While Operation Market Garden was a battle that had been studied in depth by many historians, Will Irwin's Abundance of Valor provided a new look at the battle by focusing on the special forces men of Operation Jedburgh. They were parachuted into eastern Netherlands one week prior to the operation with the goal of rallying resistance fighters to aid the Allied offensive. Such a goal was lofty, and as it would turn out, they fell short of this goal, and many of the men were either lost or imprisoned. Despite of their failure, Irwin set forth to tell their story to honor their efforts as the title would suggest. He narrated an exciting tale of Lieutenant Harvey Allan Todd whose iron will led him to survive harsh conditions in prisoner of war camps, and of Major John Olmsted who moved from safe house to safe house as he moved toward friendly lines.

I had reviewed this title in its audio book format. As usual, Michael Prichard performed superbly, and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance.

Abundance of Valor contained a fresh view of Operation Market Garden, and I would recommend it as a good side reading to a study of that battle.