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Imperial War Museum Book of the War in Italy: A Vital Contribution to Victory in Europe 1943-1945
by: Michael Carver

List Price: £12.99

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Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 940
EAN: 9780330482301
ISBN: 0330482300
Label: Pan Books
Manufacturer: Pan Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: November 08, 2002
Publisher: Pan Books
Studio: Pan Books
Sales Rank: 317853

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Editorial Review:

Synopsis:
The Allies fought the Germans in Italy from July 1943 to May 1945 in a campaign reminiscent of World War I. The terrain was difficult, the weather bitter, the adversaries fierce and in no way inferior in strength. The Allies felt they played "second fiddle to the cross-channel invasion; that victory was not going to be won by them, and that their sacrifices and suffering were not essential to it and would not be appreciated. This feeling was accentuated by the number of attacks to which they were committed which clearly had only slender changes of success" (Lord Carver). Had the Germans been able to deploy their forces in Italy against the D-Day landings and subsequent offensive, there could have been a very different situation in northern Europe in 1944-45. The hard-fought campaign in Italy portrayed in this book probably made the difference.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Excellent first hand accounts
I enjoyed this book, particularly the first hand accounts. It is impossible not to be moved and impressed by what ordinary people went through in the war. It also makes you realise the reality behind even the most 'minor' of engagements in the war - engagements which would often be considered too minor to be included in history books with a more sweeping narrative. My only reservation about the book is that it does not go very far in proving that the Italy campaign did make a vital contribution to the overall war effort. And also, as nearly always with military books, there were not enough maps or good enough maps. However, I would recommend this book and also the Imperial War Museum book on the Burma campaign.

Rating:

- Excellent first hand accounts
I enjoyed this book - I thought that the quantity and quality of the first hand accounts is what made this book stand out - it is impossible not to be moved and impressed by what ordinary people went through in the war. It certainly makes you realise the reality behind even the smallest engagements in the war, many of which are too 'minor' to make it into the more usual sweeping narratives of history books. My only reservation is that I didn't feel that the book went very far in proving the strategic value of the Italy campaign. I would also recommend the Imperial War Museum book on the Burma campaign, which was probably better overall.

Rating:

- Too much eyewitness testimony
I have been impressed with other books in this series - Max Hasting's Overlord is a particularly good example. It was a good narrative to the D-Day and following operations in Normandy. The main problem with this book is simply that there is far too much eye-witness accounts from the soldiers involved. I almost gave half-way through the first chapter, which outlined the operation in Sicily. There was about three of four paragraphs about what the plan for invasion was, and then about twenty pages of eye-witness testimony. I know as a historian it is always good to have plentiful primary sources to hand, but could some not just be footnoted? Do we really need to read six different accounts - some which go on for two pages - about the landings ... Read More:

Books : Imperial War Museum Book of the War in Italy: A Vital Contribution to Victory in Europe 1943-1945