The first book-length account of the initial phase of Operation NORDWIND, the last German offensive on the Western Front in World War II, Seven Days in January is also a personal memoir by a key participant. For perspective, the author includes a detailed, yet concise, summary of his division's operations during three years of combat against the Soviets on the Arctic Front near Murmansk, and its epic 1,000-mile fighting withdrawal across Finland and Norway after the Finns concluded a separate armistice with the USSR in 1944. With this as background, the author focuses on a day-by-day description and analysis of Operation NORDWIND, based on not only his personal experience in the campaign, but on extensive use of both German and American archival sources and dozens of interviews with the combatants of both sides. A gripping and detailed account of an important, yet until now obscure unit's participation in the last critical contest on the Western Front in WWII. Includes 36 highly-detailed maps, including eight textured 3-D maps derived from satellite imagery to facilitate the reader's fullest possible understanding of the terrain's effects on operations. 6" x 9" format; photos; index.