Synopses & Reviews
Monte Cassino is the true story of one of the bitterest and bloodiest of the Allied struggles against the Nazi army. Long neglected by historians, the horrific conflict saw over 350,000 casualties, while the worst winter in Italian memory and official incompetence and backbiting only worsened the carnage and turmoil. Combining groundbreaking research in military archives with interviews with four hundred survivors from both sides, as well as soldier diaries and letters, Monte Cassino is both profoundly evocative and historically definitive. Clearly and precisely, Matthew Parker brilliantly reconstructs Europes largest land battle-which saw the destruction of the ancient monastery of Monte Cassino-and dramatically conveys the heroism and misery of the human face of war.
About the Author
Matthew Parker is the author of The Battle of Britain. He is a writer and editor specializing in modern history, and lives in London, England.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Maps
Introduction: The Monastery and the Gustav Line
PART ONE: Sicily to Cassino
1: The Casablanca Conference and the Invasion of Sicily
2: The Invasion of Italy
3: The Gustav Line
4: Into the Gustav Line
PART TWO: The First Battle
5: British X Corps on the Garigliano: The Left Hook
6: Bloody River
7: Anzio and Cassino
8: The Cassino Massif
PART THREE: The Second Battle
9: The Destruction of the Monastery
10: Snakeshead Ridge
11: Lull at Cassino, Counterattack at Anzio
PART FOUR: The Third Battle
12: The Battle for Cassino Town
13: Castle Hill
14: The Green Devils of Cassino
PART FIVE: The Fourth Battle
15: Deception
16: Break-In
17: Amazon Bridge
18: The Monastery
Postscript: Surviving the Peace
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1: A Typical British Infantry
Battalion, 1943-44
Appendix 2: Orders of Battle
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index