A Bridge Too Far

Ryan illustrates how even the most carefully orchestrated military strategies can unravel under the weight of battlefield uncertainty. Operation Market-Garden was conceived as a bold, rapid strike to outflank German defenses and hasten the end of World War II. It relied on an unprecedented level of coordination between airborne and ground forces and hinged on the timely capture of a sequence of bridges across the Netherlands. Yet, as Ryan demonstrates, the plan’s complexity made it uniquely vulnerable to delays, logistical breakdowns, and enemy resistance. The gap between the plan and what occurred on the ground is one of the central tensions of the book.

The author traces this theme from the earliest stages of planning, where optimism among Allied commanders—particularly Montgomery—overshadowed caution. Allied leaders assumed that German forces in the Netherlands were disorganized or in retreat, ignoring or underestimating intelligence that suggested otherwise. As one British officer later recalled: “Two things were clear: although we did not know it at the time we had landed virtually on top of two panzer divisions—which weren’t supposed to be there—and the Germans had reacted with extraordinary speed” (456). The plan depended on tight timing and unbroken lines of communication, which meant that even a single failure could have cascading effects.