Synopses & Reviews
and#147;Masterly . . . a heartbreaking, beautifully told story of wasted sacrifice.and#8221; and#151;Vince Rinehart,
The Washington PostThe Allied attack of Normandy beach and its resultant bloodbath have been immortalized in film and literature, but the U.S. campaign on the beaches of Western Italy reigns as perhaps the deadliest battle of World War IIand#8217;s western theater. In January 1944, about six months before D-Day, an Allied force of thirty-six thousand soldiers launched one of the first attacks on continental Europe at Anzio, a small coastal city thirty miles south of Rome. The assault was conceived as the first step toward an eventual siege of the Italian capital. But the advance stalled and Anzio beach became a death trap. After five months of brutal fighting and monumental casualties on both sides, the Allies finally cracked the German line and marched into Rome on June 5, the day before D-Day. Richly detailed and fueled by extensive archival research of newspapers, letters, and diariesand#151;as well as scores of original interviews with surviving soldiers on both sides of the trenchesand#151;Anzio is a harrowing and incisive true story by one of todayand#8217;s finest military historians.
Synopsis
The Allied attack of Normandy beach has been immortalized in film and literature, but it was the Allied campaign on the beaches of Western Italy, at Anzio, that reigns as the bloodiest battle in the Second World War's western theater. One of the world's leading military historians, Lloyd Clark, delivers a gripping narrative and fresh interpretation of this remarkable but overshadowed battle. About six months before D-Day, in January 1944, a united force of 36,000 soldiers launched one of the first attacks on continental Europe at Anzio, a small coastal city thirty miles south of Rome. But the advance stalled, and the Allies were unable to exploit initial German weakness that could have led to a decisive strike to liberate the undefended Italian capital. As the Germans gained strength, Anzio beach became a death trap. After five months of fighting, and monumental casualties on both sides, the Allies were able to successfully crack the German line, capturing Rome on June 4, just two days before D-Day.