"Counterattack in the North: Monty and the Americans" examines Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s leadership during the Battle of the Bulge and his command of two American armies in the critical northern counteroffensive. The session featuring Nigel Hamilton and Michael S. Bell, PhD (COL, USA, Ret.) explores Montgomery’s strengths as a defensive strategist, his controversial relationships with American commanders like Bradley, and his pivotal role in stabilizing the northern flank.
This session is part of The National WWII Museum's 2024 pre-conference symposium "The Battle of the Bulge Revisited: 80 Years On, a part of The International Conference on World War II presented by the Pritzker Military Foundation, on behalf of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. For more information: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/about-us/notes-museum/2024-international-conference-world-war-ii
The International Conference on World War II is the premier adult educational event bringing together the best and brightest scholars, authors, historians, and witnesses to history from around the globe to discuss key battles, personalities, strategies, issues, and controversies of the war that changed the world. Joining the featured speakers are hundreds of attendees who travel from all over the world to learn and connect with each other through engaging discussions, question-and-answer periods, book signings, and receptions throughout the weekend.
Nigel Hamilton is the authorized biographer of British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. His Monty trilogy won many awards, including the Templer Medal for Military History. The first volume of his FDR at War trilogy, The Mantle of Command, was longlisted for the National Book Award; the final volume, War and Peace, was published in 2019. His Lincoln vs. Davis: The War of the Presidents was published in November 2024. Hamilton is a Senior Fellow in the McCormack Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Michael Bell joined The National WWII Museum in 2022 as Executive Director of the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy after retiring from the Department of Defense as a
civilian official. Commissioned in Armor following graduation from the US Military Academy at West Point, Bell is a combat veteran, historian, and strategist who has served at every level, from platoon through theater army, as well as with US Central Command, the Joint Staff, the Office of the Secretary of State, and the White House. He served as Dean of Faculty and Academic Programs at the National War College and as Chancellor of the National Defense University’s College of International Security Affairs. The strategies he has authored or coauthored include the 2004 National Military Strategy of the United States of America, the National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism, the National Security and Defense Strategy and National Military Strategy of Kuwait, and the 2020 Joint Chiefs of Staff Vision and Guidance for Professional Military Education and Talent Management. In 2017–18, he served on detail to the White House as National Security Council Senior Director for Gulf Affairs, Senior Director for Middle East Affairs, and Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. He is the author of a monograph on the role of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff published by the Strategic Studies Institute, and his book on General John J. Pershing and the creation of an American staff system in World War I is forthcoming from the Army University Press. Bell holds an MA and PhD in American history from the University of Maryland College Park and an MS in national security strategy from the National Defense University. His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Bronze Star, Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award, Joint Staff Badge, and Combat Action Badge.