Gerd von Rundstedt photographed as a Reichswehr general in the early 1930s, wearing the stand-and-fall gray collar of the period. The trap had been prepared months before. The idea for the massive German counteroffensive in the Ardennes was first broached during the summer of 1944. “The Great Blow,” was how the German high command referred to the operation during its planning stages. “The counteroffensive will be the great blow against the Allies,” Hitler told his generals. “The assault will drive the Americans and English back to the sea…” Gerd von Rundstedt was the man who would serve as the genius of the “Great Blow.” A German general of the old school, a monocled, aristocratic Junker, von Rundstedt was an ideal choice for the task. War was his sole interest—his entire life. He was one of those whose entire career was concerned exclusively with military matters. Gerd von Rundstedt considered warfare a cold, exact science. He could be relied upon to plan the huge campai...