Edwin P. Hoyt

Backwater War (eBook, PDF)

The Allied Campaign in Italy, 1943-1945

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

A year before the much-heralded second front was opened at Normandy in 1944, the Allies waged a campaign in Sicily and Italy-an assault that was marked by argument and dissent from beginning to end, highlighting the fundamental differences in strategic thinking between the Americans and the British. Winston Churchill favored scrapping what would become the Normandy invasion entirely, focusing instead on the soft underbelly of Nazi Europe, but American planners summarily rejected any plan that relied solely on a southern option. This is the story of this backwater campaign, a series of battles skillfully staged by the Germans and so botched by the Allies that their victory was achieved only as a result of German exhaustion.

During the hard-fought campaign, the Americans persisted in their suspicion that the British were trying to undermine the effort. For example, the imbroglio over the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino and the ineptness of the British assault, led by a commander already discredited by his role in the fall of Crete, would spur the Americans to overreact and destroy the monastery by bombing. This created a major propaganda victory for the Germans. Such incidents convinced both Washington and London that they were working at cross-purposes. Hoyt contends that, as the British argued at the time, Allied efforts would have been better-spent concentrating on the Balkans. The Normandy campaign was expensive, unnecessary, and ultimately lengthened the war.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
• Seitenzahl: 256
• Altersempfehlung: ab 7 Jahre
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. Juni 2002
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780313076756
• Artikelnr.: 68528318

Autorenporträt

EDWIN P. HOYT is an independent historian. He is the author of more than 150 books, mostly in the area of military history, including The Last Kamikaze (Praeger, 1993) and Hirohito (Praeger, 1992). Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Hoyt turned his attention to journalism after service in the Pacific theater during World War II. He has written for the Denver Post, Collier's Magazine, and American Heritage, as well as for CBS news.

Inhaltsangabe

Preface The Allies Prepare The Axis Defenses of Sicily Invasion The Eighth
Army's Drive The Seventh Army's Drive The Fall of Mussolini Confusion Race
for Messina The Surrender of Italy and the Surprise that Wasn't Unrest at
Quadrant Salerno The Strategic Trap A Series of Delaying Actions. The
Advance Is Stopped The Rapido River Fiasco Crossing Anzio The Attack on
Cassino The Bombing of Monte Cassino The Germans at Anzio Spring Offensive
The End of the Gustav Line Breakthrough The Fall of Rome North from Rome
Cracking the Gothic Line The Center of the Line Winter Doldrums To the
Bitter End Bibliographic Essay Index