The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In the second volume of his epic trilogy about the liberation of Europe in World War II, Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson tells the harrowing story of the campaigns in Sicily and Italy

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.

Author: Rick Atkinson
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Published: 10/02/2007
Pages: 816
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.10lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.50w x 1.80d
ISBN: 9780805062892


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 06/01/2007 pg. 92
Library Journal 07/01/2007 pg. 102
Publishers Weekly 07/30/2007 pg. 71
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2007 pg. 758
Booklist 08/01/2007 pg. 26
New York Times Book Review 09/30/2007 pg. 15
Newsweek 10/08/2007 pg. 41
New York Times Book Review 10/07/2007 pg. 38
Publishers Weekly Best Books 11/05/2007 pg. 32
NY Times Notable Bks of Year 12/02/2007 pg. 13
New York Review of Books 04/03/2008 pg. 18

About the Author

Rick Atkinson, recipient of the 2010 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing, is the bestselling author of An Army at Dawn, The Long Gray Line, and In the Company of Soldiers. He was a staff writer and senior editor at The Washington Post for twenty years, and his many awards include Pulitzer Prizes for journalism and history. He lives in Washington, D.C.