11 Days in December: Christmas at the Bulge, 1944

A true World War II Christmas story from the bestselling author of Silent Night.

It was truly a white Christmas in the Ardennes Forest in 1944, but that was cold comfort to the Allied soldiers trying to stop the Nazis from retaking Belgium in one of the most decisive battles of World War II. While a German loudspeaker taunted, “How would you like to die for Christmas?” the Allied forces dug in, despite freezing conditions. They needed a miracle.

In a medieval chapel, General Patton, who needed clear skies to allow airborne reinforcements to reach his trapped men, uttered what would become a famous prayer: “Sir, whose side are you on?” His soldiers wouldn’t be home for Christmas, but as the skies cleared, they went on to win a battle and a war.

11 Days in December is the dramatic story of a miraculous shift in the midst of a terrible battle, and an extraordinary chapter from the greatest war of the modern era.

Stanley Weintraub was a US Army veteran and Evan Pugh Professor Emeritus of Arts and Humanities at Pennsylvania State University, and the author of numerous histories and biographies, including 15 Stars.