In the ruined Europe of World War II, American soldiers on the frontline had no eye for breathtaking vistas or romantic settings. The brutality of battle profoundly darkened the soldiers' perceptions of the Old World. Drawing on soldiers' diaries, letters, poems and songs, Peter Schrijvers offers a compelling account of the experiences of U.S. combat ground forces: their struggles with the European terrain and seasons, their confrontations with soldiers, and their often startling encounters with civilians. Schrijvers relays how the GIs became so desensitized and dehumanized that the sight of dead animals often evoked more compassion in them than enemy dead. The Crash of Ruin concludes with a dramatic and moving account of the final Allied offensive into German-held territory and the soldiers' bearing witness to the ultimate symbol of Europe's descent into ruin: the death camps of the Holocaust.