A Bridge Too Far

“Shortly after 10 A.M. on Sunday, September 17, 1944, from airfields all over southern England the greatest armada of troop-carrying aircraft ever assembled for a single operation took to the air.”

This dramatic opening sentence establishes the immense scale of Operation Market-Garden and immediately conveys its historic significance. Ryan’s superlative phrasing (“the greatest armada”) creates an epic tone, emphasizing the sheer magnitude of the event. This passage exemplifies the book’s narrative style of blending factual reporting with novelistic language.

“For the insignificant village of Driel, untouched until now, the war had only begun.”

These closing lines from the first chapter deliver a reversal of expectations and are a classic example of dramatic irony. Ryan’s voice underscores the illusion of safety felt by the villagers, just as the narrative hints at the storm to come. The phrase “untouched until now” foreshadows the strategic importance Driel will soon assume, marking this quiet village as a future epicenter of the battle.

“There was a kind of madness in the air…‘wild fear on the one hand and crazy, unlimited, joy on the other.’”

This line captures the emotional extremes pulsing through the Netherlands during the German retreat—panic among the occupiers and euphoric hope among the oppressed. Ryan uses priest Tiburtius Noordermeer’s observation to distill the chapter’s tension: While liberation feels imminent, no one knows for sure. The phrase “nobody acted normally” crystallizes the