Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy and a Collision of Lives in World War II
Mar 2019 · Atlantic Books
4.8star
16 reviewsreport
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416
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About this ebook
The New York Times Bestseller
'Brilliant... Gripping' Wall Street Journal
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Higher Call comes the riveting World War II story of an American tank gunner's journey into the heart of the Third Reich.
At first, gunner Clarence Smoyer and his fellow crewmen in the legendary 3rd Armored Division - 'Spearhead' - thought their tanks were invincible. Then they met the German Panther, with a gun so murderous it could shoot through one Sherman and into the next. Soon a pattern emerged: the lead tank always gets hit.
After Clarence sees his friends cut down breaching the West Wall and holding the line in the Battle of the Bulge, he and his crew are given a weapon with the power to avenge their fallen brothers: the Pershing, a state-of-the-art 'super tank', one of twenty in the European theatre.
But with it comes a harrowing new responsibility: now they will spearhead every attack. That's how Clarence finds himself leading the U.S. Army into its largest urban battle of the European war, the fight for Cologne, the 'Fortress City' of Germany.
Battling through the ruins, Clarence will engage the fearsome Panther in a duel immortalized by an army cameraman. And he will square off with Gustav Schaefer, a teenager behind the trigger in a Panzer IV tank, whose crew has been sent on a suicide mission to stop the Americans.
As Clarence and Gustav trade fire down a long boulevard, they are confronted by a tragic mistake of war. What happens next will haunt Clarence to the modern day, drawing him back to Cologne to do the unthinkable: to face his enemy, one last time.
'Brilliant... Gripping' Wall Street Journal
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Higher Call comes the riveting World War II story of an American tank gunner's journey into the heart of the Third Reich.
At first, gunner Clarence Smoyer and his fellow crewmen in the legendary 3rd Armored Division - 'Spearhead' - thought their tanks were invincible. Then they met the German Panther, with a gun so murderous it could shoot through one Sherman and into the next. Soon a pattern emerged: the lead tank always gets hit.
After Clarence sees his friends cut down breaching the West Wall and holding the line in the Battle of the Bulge, he and his crew are given a weapon with the power to avenge their fallen brothers: the Pershing, a state-of-the-art 'super tank', one of twenty in the European theatre.
But with it comes a harrowing new responsibility: now they will spearhead every attack. That's how Clarence finds himself leading the U.S. Army into its largest urban battle of the European war, the fight for Cologne, the 'Fortress City' of Germany.
Battling through the ruins, Clarence will engage the fearsome Panther in a duel immortalized by an army cameraman. And he will square off with Gustav Schaefer, a teenager behind the trigger in a Panzer IV tank, whose crew has been sent on a suicide mission to stop the Americans.
As Clarence and Gustav trade fire down a long boulevard, they are confronted by a tragic mistake of war. What happens next will haunt Clarence to the modern day, drawing him back to Cologne to do the unthinkable: to face his enemy, one last time.
Ratings and reviews
4.8
16 reviews
terry kenny
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May 11, 2019
Excellent, fascinating. It was great to read up to present day. Can't rate it high enough.
Everett Sharp
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March 24, 2020
Such ordinary men summoned courage in abundance. As an Englishman I thank you.
Stephen Grubb
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September 3, 2022
awesome
About the author
Adam Makos is a journalist, historian and editor of the military magazine, Valor. Makos has interviewed countless veterans from the Second World War, Korea, Vietnam, and present-day wars. In 2008 Makos travelled to Iraq to accompany the 101st Airborne and Army Special Forces on their hunt for Al Qaeda terrorists. He is the author, with Larry Alexander, of A Higher Call, which was a Sunday Times bestseller, and Devotion.
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