The Days of Battle: From the Invasion of Sicily to the Liberation of Italy, 1943–1944

This book traces the Allied campaign from the invasion of Sicily to the final capture of Rome, bringing the grand and brutal Italian Campaign vividly to life: the call to muster sounded over the surging waves as landing craft carried troops to Sicily’s golden shores; the tracks of roaring steel tanks crushed through the stout defenses of the Salerno plain; and shrieking aircraft rained bombs on the port of Taranto. A sweeping tableau, at once epic and tragic, unfolds.

An overburdened Eisenhower, the fearless yet arrogant Mark Clark, the brilliant Patton, the passionate and stubborn Churchill, the master strategist Cunningham, and the besieged Mussolini... From generals to soldiers, politicians to civilians, countless lives converged and burned through this chapter of history.

This was the second phase of the offensive against the Third Reich. The fighting in Sicily and Italy forced the United States to shoulder ever greater responsibility on the battlefield, while tempering the combat skills and resolve of its armed forces. With rugged terrain, punishing weather, and a formidable enemy, the stakes were clear: kill or be killed. It was on the Italian front that the American military transformed from novice to a mighty force that would shape the course of World War II.