For six weeks in the summer of 1944, US forces tasked with capturing the vital road hub of Saint-Lô in Normandy struggled to make progress amid the bocage, hedgerow country interspersed with marshland, where infantry would have to do most of the fighting. The Germans deployed some of their toughest infantrymen, the renowned Fallschirmjäger - highly motivated, well-equipped Luftwaffe volunteers formed around cadres of veterans - to defend this sector. Despite the American superiority in terms of armour, aircraft, and matériel, the US infantrymen would need to evict the Germans in an exhausting series of close-quarter battles. Featuring expert analysis, carefully chosen photographs, and newly commissioned artwork, this book compares the combatants' ethos, doctrine and training and assesses their performance in the Saint-Lô battle, notably during the brutal struggle for Hill 192 (June 12-July 12), the hedgerow fighting around the city (June 12-July 18), and the bitter engagements at Mont Castré and "Witches' Island" (July 3-23). Experience The Heat Of Battle, Insights into the realities of front-line combat, Innovative split-screen artwork, Expert analysis combined with gripping battle accounts, Strategic and tactical maps.