Rangers at Dieppe: The First Combat Action of U.S. Army Rangers in World War II

By Jim DeFelice

Book Overview

After Pearl Harbor, the United States was struggling to bring itself up to fighting strength for World War II when a specially-trained force-based upon the famed British commando squads-was formed. It would become known as the Rangers. Before their training was complete, the Rangers were thrust into battle, taking part in an assault on the German-held French port of Dieppe. Plagued by politics and inter-service rivalry, the raid would become one of the greatest debacles of the war. Allied losses included several Rangers killed or wounded-the first American blood spilled on European soil in the war. Here, drawn from historical records and personal recollections by those who were there, and illustrated with photographs, is the story of the baptism of fire of what would become the U.S. Army Rangers.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425219216
• ISBN13: 9780425219218
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Berkley Caliber
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Good review of a little known American action of WW II

While many books on Dieppe mention the fact that 50 American Rangers participated in this action, as DeFelice points out very little details on this has been published. This gap is what the author wants to fill and he does so very well. His research is solid and the writing good. The book's only flaw is the lack of a good technical editor. The M1 Garand subject with the M1 Carbine description has already been mentioned. But Lord Louis Mountbatten is referred to as a General, instead of an Admiral, and in the notes the 34th Division consisted of "the 133rd, 135th, and 168th Infantry Battalions" which were in fact Regiments. A good technical editor would have quickly spotted and corrected these minor mistakes.

Minor error

Yes, the writer or editor slips up in the description of the M1 and carbine but other than that a very good book. As for the July 25, 2008 review, since the reviewer is nitpicking the details he may want to pick up a book on Carbines himself, Overland never made carbines.

Great read!

Although I don't consider myself a fan of military history, I am a fan of Jim DeFelice. When I picked up a copy of RANGERS AT DIEPPE, I was more than a little bit pleased with my choice. The book reads like much of Mr. DeFelice's fiction: it's engrossing, entertaining, and spellbinding. This moving tribute to an all-too-easily forgotten group of brave men stands among the best accounts of gallantry I have ever read.

A superb, moving narrative of a crucial battle

I pick up about ten history books a year, and this is the best I've read in a long, long while. Whether you're casually interested in WWII or a serious student the conflict, this casts the bloodletting of U.S Rangers at Dieppe in a new light, turning an apparent military disaster into a what it truly was in a broader sense: a story of perserverance and courage that ultimately becomes uplifting. Through Defelice's exhaustive research, Rangers at Dieppe dispels longstanding myths about the battle and explains how the U.S. Rangers who were the first Allied casualties in Europe were transformed into the elite fighting force that would later be pivotal in deciding the outcome of the war. The author's impressions of his modern-day trip to the battle's scene and staging grounds, intercut with the events that occurred there over sixty years in the past, add a special poignancy to the story. Defelice's final passage resonates with me days after I finished the book. This is history with intelligence and a huge amount of heart--I can't recommend it enough. For me it ranks with Cornelius Ryan's "A Bridge Too Far" and "The Longest Day" as being among the most gripping narrative histories of WWII ever written.