The Last Bridge

The epic story of the last bridge standing over the Rhine and the daring men and mission that helped end World War II, by bestselling author and WWII historian Alex Kershaw

Alex Kershaw, author of five New York Times bestsellers about World War II, takes us on this heart-pounding, never-fully-told combat narrative about the extraordinary warriors who seized the last bridge standing across the Rhine in March 1945, carrying out the single most impactful mission of the war and saving untold lives. With a narrative built via deep research and an in-depth interview with Paul Priest, the one man still alive today to tell this amazing story, The Last Bridge goes minute by minute, in full and vivid detail.

Late winter, 1945: Allied forces have pushed the Germans toward the Rhine River and one elite reconnaissance unit from the 9th Armored Division—“a bunch of quirks and jerks,” according to one officer—leads a push toward Nazi Germany.

Led by a German-born officer determined to throw off the shame attached to his name, the small band of Americans rushed into a hail of machine-gun bullets and across a bridge loaded with explosives. Battling through terrible casualties, they fought furiously in order to establish a foothold on the eastern banks of the Rhine and form the spearhead of an unstoppable thrust into Nazi Germany. In one of the most dramatic victories in military history, this cohort of warriors delivers a stunning strategic blow that helped cause the Third Reich to finally collapse.