The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (Liberation Trilogy)
?A triumph of narrative history, elegantly written, thick with unforgettable description and rooted in the sight and sounds of battle.??The New York Times In An Army at Dawn?winner of the Pulitzer Prize?Rick Atkinson provided a dramatic and authoritative history of the Allied triumph in North Africa. Now, in The Day of Battle, he 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 Italian campaign?s outcome was never certain; in fact, Roosevelt, Churchill, and their military advisers engaged in heated debate about whether an invasion of the so-called soft underbelly of Europe was even a good idea. But once under way, the commitment to liberate Italy from the Nazis never wavered, despite the agonizingly high price. The battles at Salerno, Anzio, and Monte Cassino were particularly difficult and lethal, yet as the months passed, the Allied forces continued to drive the Germans up the Italian peninsula. Led by Lieutenant General Mark Clark, one of the war?s most complex and controversial commanders, American officers and soldiers became increasingly determined and 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, this is narrative history of the first rank. With The Day of Battle, Atkinson has once again given us the definitive account of one of history?s most compelling military campaigns.
Amazon Best of the Month, November 2007: Topping a Pulitzer Prize-winning effort is tough; finding originality in a World War II narrative is even tougher. Yet Rick Atkinson accomplishes both with The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944. His previous work, An Army at Dawn, won the 2003 Pulitzer in history, but Atkinson has managed to set the bar even higher with his second installment in "The Liberation Trilogy." He descends upon each battlefield with rich historical perspective, tactical analysis, and chilling frontline observations. Cocksure Hollywood bravado is sparse, as Atkinson depicts soldiers fighting for honor, not glory. "We did it because we could not bear the shame of being less than the man beside us," explains one soldier's diary. "We fought because he fought; we died because he died." The result is an incredible portrayal of the courage, sorrow, and determination that came to define our greatest generation. --Dave Callanan
The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (Liberation Trilogy) Accessories
 An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943, Volume One of the Liberation Trilogy
The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45
The Greatest Battle: Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow That Changed the Course of World War II
The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States)
American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies in the Founding of the Republic (Vintage)
The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800 (P.S.)
The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (Liberation Trilogy) Reviews
Atkinson gives you a view of the war's events from several different perspectives quoting official documents all the way to letters home. All in all a very interesting read which will give you yet another reason to admire the men and women who fought for us. These books should be required reading in all high school history classes. This is an excellent follow on to "An Army at Dawn".
Outstanding combination of presentation of the Italian campaign in terms of overall strategy as well as details of battles at individual unit/soldier level. The writing is superb and truly brings the War in Italy alive. The author gives us a real understanding of the major individual military commanders and political figures as well as the rivalries between the Americans and the British. The enormous challenges of getting the two armies to function as one are also covered extremely well - plus the added factors of integration of the allied air and naval forces.
The battle narrative does not cover later 1944 and early 1945 battles in the rugged terrain north of Rome. The British Eighth Army lands on the toe of the Italian boot and makes very little effort to move inland. Also note that THE DAY OF BATTLE essentially concludes with the capture of Rome. Despite Clark's claim to the contrary, he has no intention of allowing anyone but the Americans to be the first to march through Rome. With the Italian surrender the Germans forfeit a third of the peninsula as they move to a series of prepapred positions north of Naples.
The United States, British, and other Allied forces prepare for the invasion of Sicily prior to the defeat of Panzer Armee Afrika in Tunisia. The bulk of the book is devoted to the military campaign. In reading THE DAY OF BATTLE it is clearly evident that the weather and terrain were the most daunting Allied adveraries. Landing in Sicily the Allied forces conquer the island in 30 days. The one opportunity is in the placement of maps in the book. From this point Atkinson recounts the attacks, counterattacks, wholesale slaughters due to uncoordinated attacks and faulty intelligence. As with AN ARMY AT DAWN, Atkinson's volume is steeped in first hand accounts, official military reports, and includes letters written by generals and common soldiers alike. Despite flagging Italian resistance, German troops give the Allies a taste of what they can expect on the Italian mainland.
In an economy of force mission the Germans inflict heavy casualties on British and American forces before abandoning the island in a textbook evacuation. Although his wish is eventually fulfilled, it is also steeped in controversy as to whether or not his push to enter an open city allowed German forces to escape up the center of the peninsula. The Americans subsequently land at Salerno and come under heavy German counterattack. Much like the first volume of the series, Atkinson does not spend and inordinate amount of time on the pre-invasion preparations. Atkinson writes with a lot of on-the-ground detail and it is frustratingly difficult to keep up with this outstanding research when relying on the skimpy maps in the book. Despite a brilliant amphibious landing at Anzio, US General Mark Clark finds his army floundering on the Anzio beachhead, as well as stalled before Cassino.
Atkinson's book does have detailed maps throughout the narrative, but their placement is not calibrated to the verbiage. As I found with other military history books it is good to keep a detailed Second World War atlas close at hand to follow the action. Sicily, however, is only the beginning of the story. Clark knows the upcoming invasion of France will divert resources from the Italian front and so he hurls his corps against the Germans until a breakthrough is achieved in spring 1944. American and British commanders are constantly at odds regarding the conduct of the mainland campaign with their operational agreements seemingly becoming disagreements. Overall the book is very good reading.
Rick Atkinson's THE DAY OF BATTLE takes up where AN ARMY AT DAWN left off. More often than not the map covering the activity on one page is several pages deeper in the book rather than at the beginning of the chapter.
Of all the young guys he went through training with, he was the only one who made it home (you know things are bad when you're "lucky" to have just been badly-wounded). My father served in the 36th Infantry Division and was badly wounded at San Pietro. This is an extraordinarily well-researched military history that also manages to fully convey the human tragedy of Allied operations in Italy. I truly thank Mr. Atkinson for paying attention to their sacrifices. An awful lot of young guys died in Italy and I'm grateful to Mr. Atkinson for devoting his considerable skills to this subject.
I eagerly await Part Three. In the second of his trilogy of World War II, he has written an accurate historical document while giving the reader a real feel for the human beings involved. Further, he allowed historical quotes from those involved to draw conclusions about the campaign that still trouble many some 65 years later. Mr. Atkinson produced a wonderful product.
|
