A Bridge Too Far.

RYAN, Cornelius.

Item Number: 125992

New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974.

First edition of Ryan’s account of Operation Market Garden, the failed Allied attempt to break through German lines at Arnhem by taking a series of bridges in the occupied Netherlands during World War II. Octavo, original cloth, cartographic endpapers, illustrated. Signed by Cornelius Ryan opposite the title page. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Wendell Minor.

Ryan's bleak, fact-based account of the failed WWII Operation Market Garden mission, A Bridge Too Far was the first book to address the tactical mistakes made in planning the operation, which in previous popular accounts had been spun as a partial success. The book was adapted into the 1977 epic war film of the same name directed by Richard Attenborough and with a screenplay by William Goldman. The ensemble cast included Sean Connery, James Caan, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford, Dirk Bogarde, Edward Fox, and Laurence Olivier.