The Last Ridge

The Epic Story of America’s First Mountain Soldiers and the Assault on Hitler’s Europe

By: McKay Jenkins

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

When World War II broke out in Europe, the American army had no specialized division of mountain soldiers. But in the winter of 1939-40, an amateur skier named Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole convinced the United States Army to let him recruit an extraordinary assortment of European expatriates, wealthy ski bums, mountaineers, and thrill-seekers and form them into a unique band of Alpine soldiers. These men endured nearly three years of grueling training in the Colorado Rockies and in the process set new standards for both soldiering and mountaineering.

The newly forged Tenth Mountain Division finally faced combat in the winter of 1945, in Italy’s Apennine Mountains, against the seemingly unbreakable German fortifications north of the Gothic Line. There, they planned and executed what is still regarded as the most daring series of nighttime mountain attacks in US military history, taking Mount Belvedere and the sheer, treacherous face of Riva Ridge to smash the linchpin of the German army’s lines.

Drawing on unique cooperation from veterans of the Tenth Mountain Division and a vast archive of unpublished letters and documents, The Last Ridge is written with enormous warmth, energy, and honesty. This is one of the most captivating stories of World War II, a blend of Band of Brothers and Into Thin Air. It is a story of young men asked to do the impossible, and succeeding.

©2003 McKay Jenkins (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Bravo to the mountain heroes

Under horrible conditions, these men were able to perform admirably. The audible brings you directly into the training, fighting, victories, and tragedy of deaths. Think it’s difficult to endure a cold snow filled street? Nothing compared to what these heroes had to endure.

Astounding!

The Tenth Mountain Division is an incredible unit who made its muscle in the second world war. This book goes over the incredible souls like Hayes, Doyle, Noonan, and the men who came from mountainous backgrounds like professional skiers and woodsman and outdoorsman alike whom banded together to form one of America's first mountain fighting units! This book goes into great depths of detail on the formation, training, and Combat Operations of the 10th Mountain Division in the 2nd World War. Grover Gardner (narrator on Len Burns Civil War) does an astounding job narrating here. his voice is just pure conviction of the very detail he describes!!

National ski patrol and WW2

Great history, what an incredible generation. Great book and well read. Loved this book. 10th Mountain Division and the National Ski Patrol linked forever

Great story!

Great dramatic retelling of the 10th Mountain Division. A must-know story for any US History buff.
Grover Gardner is one of the best performers in the Audible stable. Worth every minute to listen to this book.

Motto: “Always Forward”

The troops live up to their motto. A relentless professional fighting force. A brief but comprehensive overview of former Senator Bob Doles brief combat career as a 21 year old infantry Lieutenant before sustaining terrible and paralyzing injuries that required multiple surgeries and years of rehabilitation. He was very highly regarded by the troops he commanded

Excellent story about the winter division!

This story was very intriguing and detailed. The title is a bit misleading, because it’s mostly a story about the history of the division. The focus on the battle is more or less just the last third of the book. As always, Mr. Grover Gardner did an absolutely fabulous job narrating this story. I highly recommend this, especially if you can grab it free like I did :)

Awesome all around.. Enlightening

I really enjoyed the way this book came together. Excellent read. The history is eye opening and narration top notch

Excellent. Title should reference Ski Patrol.

Because of its foundation in the Ski Patrol it was far more interesting than the typical ground war history.

Interesting but not exciting

I didn't know anything before about the 10th mountain division or the people that made it happen so that was interesting. Quite a few details that were hard to follow and seemed a little repetitious during the training portion--seemed to go on forever before they actually got to do any fighting. It highlights some of the military foibles and failures too.
Reader was very good. Expression and pauses helped the understanding of the book. Better than other readers I've heard.

One of the best books on the 10th

Human interest perfectly blended with a detailed military analysis. The narration is excellent. Thumbs up!