This article is about the book. For the 1969 movie with the same name, see The Bridge at Remagen (movie).

This is the incredible story about one day, March 7, 1945, when American forces (9th Armored Division) captured the Ludendorff Bridge — better known as the bridge at Remagen. A bridge across the Rhine, more or less the last defense the German army had on the western front. Nobody had counted on capturing any standing bridge over the Rhine, the Allied forces bombarded the Rhine bridges from the air almost daily and the German forces blew up all bridges as soon as the enemy were closing in. The capture of the bridge at Remagen came as a major surprise to both sides, and for the Allied it meant that they could get tens of thousands of troops and equipment over the Rhine in just a matter of days.

Ken Hechler — serving under S.L.A. Marshall, the chief U.S. Army combat historian during WWII — was attached to the 9th Armored Division during the time of the "Miracle of Remagen". He was there at the time of the action, and he interviewed several of the main soldiers involved, both American and German. (Later on after the war Ken Hechler also interviewed such high ranking Germans as Hermann Göring, Alfred Jodl and Wilhelm Keitel.) Hechler is a man with great attention to the small details and he must have spent a long time editing this book and going over his notes. It’s well structured and this is actually a book that you can read cover to cover in just one day, it’s that captivating.

I will go as far as saying that this book is a masterpiece in it’s area. No other book I’ve read so far has give such great detail on both sides of a conflict. The Germans contribute just as much information to the story as the Americans, which is a rare feat in this kind of book. There are some great illustrations in the book although the maps could have been a little bit clearer, but that’s a minor issue if anything. Civilian accounts are there, but not to the same extent as the armies obviously, and they add even more feeling and details to this amazing piece of military history.

Just as an end note I would like to thank Steve Fesenmaier, since he was the one that made me go out and buy the book after a comment he left on this website here.