كازينو 44 .. المعركة الوحشية من أجل روما

Casino 44 ...The brutal battle for Rome With the beginning of 1944 in Italy, the Allied army's advance south of the impregnable German Gustav Line stopped, before reaching their primary goal of liberating Rome by Christmas. The battles on the Italian peninsula were fierce, facing rugged terrain, fierce resistance, and harsh weather conditions. As Allied commanders in London prepared to invade France across the English Channel later that spring, the war in the west was centered around Italy. As bestselling historian James Holland recounts in his important concluding book on the Italian campaign, the next five months saw two of the most famous battles of World War II: the four ferocious assaults on Monte Cassino and the perilous northwest landings in the marshes of Anzio, which finally culminated in the liberation of Rome on June 4, just two days before D-Day. Based on twenty years of research, Cassino 44 offers insights and conclusions that differ from traditional fiction. Holland elevates the narrative of the war, recording the dramatic events primarily through the letters and diaries of those who were present at the heart of the action. By comparing the memories of German soldiers such as Battalion Commander Jorg Kellner with those of British Captain John Strick and American Corporal Audie Murphy, whose heroism in the field led them to Hollywood fame, as well as the memories of Italian citizens and politicians who found themselves caught up in the maelstrom of war, Holland vividly depicts their daily confrontation with fate along every mile of the bloody battle. General Mark Clark, Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces in Italy, was criticized for being overly cautious and unnecessarily prolonging the campaign. Holland argues that given the circumstances and the continuing shortage of equipment kept for the Normandy invasion, Clark and other commanders led a remarkably successful campaign. Allied losses exceeded 100,000 soldiers in the five months before the Battle of Rome, more than any other campaign in the war. Cassino 44 is an essential reference for a critical turning point in World War II, and takes our understanding of the experience of war to a new level.