"Hold the Bastogne line at all costs." Order to Combat Command B, December 21st 1944 This is the fascinating account, as recorded from the US perspective, of the bitter fighting during the eight days and nights of encirclement at Bastogne. First published in the pages of the Infantry Journal in 1946, this contemporary account by S.L.A. Marshall was rescued from obscurity by the US Army's Center Of Military History. There are few better or more authoritative accounts of the struggle as seen through the eyes of the American soldiers who stood fast at Bastogne. Sent to rest and recuperate, the weary paratroopers and GIs found themselves in the middle of a siege while all hell let loose around them. This is the definitive overview of their conflict as recounted in the year following the battle. This masterful overview is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the Battle of the Bulge.