Cassino '44
Five Months of Hell in ItalySelect a format:
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Summary
‘It should become a standard work on this campaign…A formidable achievement’ Telegraph
'James Holland is now our foremost authority on the Italian campaign' John C. McManus
'A heart-pounding narrative of the brutal Allied fight to take Rome... This is history at its finest' James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize finalist
'Holland writes with eloquence and power about the harsh realities of a brutal battle that grabbed the world’s attention and helped to decide the future of Italy' Professor Michael S. Neiberg
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And yet it didn't happen. Hitler ordered his forces to dig in and fight for every yard, thus setting the stage for one of the grimmest and most attritional campaigns of the Second World War.
By the start of 1944, the Allies found themselves coming up against the Gustav Line: a formidable barrier of wire, minefields, bunkers and booby traps, woven into a giant chain of mountains and river valleys that stretched the width of Italy where at its strongest point perched the Abbey of Monte Cassino.
It would take five long bitter winter months and the onset of summer before the Allies could finally bludgeon their way north and capture Rome. By then, more than 75,000 troops and civilians had been killed and the historic abbey and entire towns and villages had been laid waste.
Following a rich cast of characters from both sides - from frontline infantry to aircrew, from clerks to battlefield commanders, and from politicians and civilians caught up in the middle of the maelstrom - James Holland has drawn widely on diaries, letters and contemporary sources to write the definitive account of this brutal battle. The result is a compelling and often heart-breaking narrative, told in the moment, as the events played out, and from the perspective of those who lived, fought and died there.
Reviews
James Holland is now our foremost authority on the Italian campaign. He knows the ground intimately and expertly. In this gripping, beautifully written book, Holland breathes fresh life into the grim story of Cassino. Told from the perspectives of all the participants, packed with new insights and quality scholarship, Cassino 1944 makes a major contribution to our understanding of the fighting in Italy. Highest recommendation!
John C. McManus, PhD, author of To the End of the Earth: The U.S. Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945
