Peter Schrijvers has taught at universities in Belgium, Switzerland, and the United States, and he is currently a lecturer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He is the author of several books, including The Crash of Ruin: American Combat Soldiers in Europe during World War II.
"A stunning tale of the realities of war. There was more suffering
and death to Belgians during the last days of World War II in the
Ardennes than in the four years that preceded it. Schrijvers puts a
human face on the 'spoilage' of war as he makes the Belgian
inhabitants of the picturesque Ardennes come alive even as they are
being killed and wounded by the victorious Allies and the Germans
making a last-ditch attempt to win the war." -- Thomas D. Morgan,
Lieutenant Colonel, USA, Retired
"A welcome break from the typical historiography of the Battle of
the Bulge.... Successfully keeps the reader informed of the
battle's major events while highlighting the civilians' experiences
against a well-written background of the battle's progression." --
On Point
"A well-written social history that reconstructs events from the
bottom up" -- Journal of Military History
"Admirably relates the stories of many of the estimated 3,000 dead
and others, thus drawing attention to their collective fate and
individual humanity. This is a well-written, powerful, and deeply
unsettling work. Highly recommended." -- Choice
"As the biggest battle in U.S. military history, this epic
engagement has not received the scholarly and even popular
attention it deserves despite its strategic importance. Schrijvers
is one of the most promising scholars of my generation to study the
history of the Second World War." -- Kurt Piehler, Director, Center
for the Study of War and Society, University of T
"Draws on newly discovered sources to tell the forgotten story of
those civilian victims.... Sheds new light on the complicated
nature of relations between the civilians and the German and U.S.
armies." -- Military Trader
"Not recommended for the faint hearted or easily disturbed, this
book nevertheless conveys with incredible thoroughness and accuracy
the suffering of civilians caught in the path of war." -- Air Power
History
"Original and arresting, The Unknown Dead focuses on civilians 'in
the path of war'; Schrijvers writes with force and grace and has
produced a unique examination of the Battle of the Bulge." -- Allan
Millett, Major General Raymond E. Mason Jr. Professor of Military
History,
"The first real study of the civilian casualties in the Battle of
the Bulge. Filled with the stories of the survivors and the
memories of those that died, it presents a horrifying picture of
the savagery of war." -- Bowling Green (KY) Daily News
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