David Stockton

The story of Operation Market Garden—a failed attempt by the allies in the latter stages of WWII to end the war quickly by securing three bridges in Holland allowing access over the Rhine into Germany. A combination of poor allied intelligence and the presence of two crack German panzer divisions meant that the final part of this operation (the bridge in Arnhem over the Rhine) was doomed to failure.

Carlin is a new reform school inmate with a reputation as a hard case. The authorities encourage gang leader Pongo to humble Carlin, but Carlin overtakes Pongo as Daddy of the ward. The guards institute a reign of terror and neglect, with Carlin emerging as an unlikely leader.

A dramatization of the story of noted writer/journalist Cornelius Ryan, author of "The Longest Day," and the valiant battle against terminal cancer that led him to write about his ordeal, with the help of his loving wife, while at the same time determined to complete "A Bridge Too Far," which he had spent years researching.