Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives in World War II

Book Detail

Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account Hardcover: 416 pages Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Edition edition (February 19, 2019) Language: English ISBN-10: 0804176728 ISBN-13: 978-0804176729 Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.4 x 9.5 inches Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Book Description

THEÂ NEW YORK TIMES,Â WALL STREET JOURNAL, LOS ANGELES TIMES,Â AND USA TODAY BESTSELLERÂ â€œA band of brothers in an American tank . . . Makos drops the reader back into the Pershingâ€™s turret and dials up a battle scene to rival the peak moments of Fury.â€ â€”The Wall Street Journal From the author of the international bestseller A Higher CallÂ comes the riveting World War II story of an American tank gunnerâ€™s journey into the heart of the Third Reich, where he will meet destiny in an iconic armor duelâ€”and forge an enduring bond with his enemy. When Clarence Smoyer is assigned to the gunnerâ€™s seat of his Sherman tank, his crewmates discover that the gentle giant from Pennsylvania has a hidden talent: Heâ€™s a natural-born shooter. At first, Clarence and his fellow crews in the legendary 3rd Armored Divisionâ€”â€œSpearheadâ€â€”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 â€œsuper tank,â€ one of twenty in the European theater. But with it comes a harrowing new responsibility: Now they will spearhead every attack. Thatâ€™s how Clarence, the corporal from coal country, finds himself leading the U.S. Army into its largest urban battle of the European war, the fight for Cologne, the â€œFortress Cityâ€ 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 taken by surprise 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. Praise for Spearhead â€œA detailed, gripping account . . . the remarkable story of two tank crewmen, from opposite sides of the conflict, who endure the grisly nature of tank warfare.â€ â€”USA Today (four out of four stars) â€œStrong and dramatic . . . Makos established himself as a meticulous researcher whoâ€™s equally adept at spinning a good old-fashioned yarn.Â . . . For a World War II aficionado, it will read like a dream.â€ â€”Associated Press

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