Cassino '44 : the brutal battle for Rome / James Holland.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Holland, James, 1970- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cassino, Battle of, Cassino, Italy, 1944.

World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Italy.

World War, 1939-1945.

Rome--Strategic aspects.

Rome.

Italy--History--Allied occupation, 1943-1947.

Italy.

Physical Description:

lvi, 612 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Edition:

First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition.

Other Title:

Cassino 1944

Brutal battle for Rome

Place of Publication:

New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2024.

Summary:

"Acclaimed World War II historian James Holland vividly relates the dramatic last months of the Italian Campaign in a masterful volume that brings new awareness to this vital hinge point of the war. As the new year of 1944 began in Italy, the Allied army's momentum had ground to a halt just south of the vaunted German Gustav Line of defense, far short of their initial objective of liberating Rome by Christmas. The fighting up the Italian peninsula had been brutal-rugged terrain, fierce resistance, terrible weather. While Allied leaders in London prepared for the cross-Channel invasion of France later that spring, the war in the West hinged in Italy. As bestselling historian James Holland relates in his seminal concluding volume on the Italy Campaign, the next five months saw two of World War II's most famous battles-the four ferocious assaults on Monte Cassino and the fraught landing northwest in the marshes at Anzio-culminating at last in the liberation of Rome on June 4, merely two days before D-Day. Based on twenty years of research, Cassino '44 offers perspectives and conclusions that differ from the standard narrative. Holland elevates the narrative of war, chronicling the dramatic events primarily through in-the-moment letters and diaries of those who were there. Counterpointing the memories of German soldiers like battalion commander Jurg Kellner with those of British captain John Strick and American corporal Audie Murphy, whose exploits in the field would lead to Hollywood fame, and of Italian citizens and politicians caught up in the maelstrom, Holland vividly recreates their day-to-day encounter with destiny over each bloodily contested mile. General Mark Clark, overall Allied commander in Italy, has been criticized for being overly cautious and needlessly extending the campaign. Holland argues that, given the conditions and constant shortage of materiel held back for the D-Day invasion, Clark and other commanders led a remarkably successful campaign. Well more than 100,000 Allied casualties occurred in the five months leading to Rome, more than in any other campaign of the war. Cassino '44 is the definitive account of a key turning point of World War II and brings our appreciation of the experience of war to a new level"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

List of maps

Principal personalities

Note on the text

Glossary

Prologue

Part I: The tyranny of Overlord. The storm

A cunning plan

The tragedy waiting to happen

Meddling madness

The garigliano

The plight of the people

The largest air force in the world

The rapido

SHINGLE

Rapid response

Part II: Missed opportunities. The distant hill

Belvedere

Cisterna

So close yet so far

The battle of the thumb

Point 593

The meat grinder

The perfect storm

The destruction of the Abbey

FISCHFANG and Monte Cassino Part 1

FISCHFANG and Monte Cassino Part 2

Part III: The seeds of change. The tank of courage

Disease and desertion

Thoughts of home

The destruction of Cassino Town

Battle in the Ruins

Via Rasella

STRANGLE

Part IV: The battle for Rome. Spring in the air

Preparations

DIADEM

Breakthrough in the mountains

Breakout and the big switch

Rome

Postscript

Appendix I: Timeline of events

Appendix II: Order of the battle: Allied and Axis armies, 22 January 1944

Appendix III: Order of battle: Allied and Axis armies, 11 May 1944

Notes

Selected sources

Acknowledgments

Picture acknowledgments

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 565-585) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Holland, James, 1970- Cassino '44

ISBN:

9780802163844

080216384X

OCLC:

1449915523