The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943 - 1944 (Volume Two of the Liberation Trilogy)

The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943 - 1944 (Volume Two of the Liberation Trilogy) by Rick Atkinson

In An Army at Dawn, Rick Atkinson provided an authoritative history of the Allied triumph in North Africa during World Awr II. Now, in The Day of Battle, the second volume of the Liberation Trilogy, Atkinson follows the strengthening American and British armies as they invade Sicily in July 1943 and then, mile by bloody mile, fight their way north toward Rome.

The decision to invade the so-called soft underbelly of Europe was controversial, but, once under way, the commitment to liberate Italy from the Nazis never wavered. The battles at Salerno, Anzio, the Rapido River, and Monte Cassino were particularly lethal, yet as the months passed, the Allied forces continued to drive the Germans up the Italian peninsula. Let by Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark, one of the war's most complex commanders, American officers and soldiers became increasingly proficient. And with the liberation of Rome in June 1944, ultimate victory at last began to seem inevitable.

Drawing on a wide array of primary source material, written with great drama and flair, The Day of Battle is a masterly account of one of history's most compelling military campaigns.

Henry Holt & Co., Hardcover, 1st Edition, Later Printing, 2013