Table of Contents

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

Promotional Information

Details the planning, execution, and implications of the Allied landings on the Italian peninsula.

About the Author

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.

Reviews

"This sharp-edged, operationally focused narrative, aimed at a general audience, demonstrates the difficulties the Allies faced during the World War II Italian campaign while arguing strongly that the campaign itself was unnecessary, the result of confused strategic planning."-Dennis Showalter United States Military Academy

.,."a meticulous and exacting survey and analysis of the campaign waged by Allied forces in Sicily and Italy. Combining extensive detail and military theory, Hoyt forcefully contends that the Normandy campaign was both unduly costly and ultimately unnecessary, and that in the final analysis it lengthened an already devastating war. An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections."-The Midwest Book Review

?...a meticulous and exacting survey and analysis of the campaign waged by Allied forces in Sicily and Italy. Combining extensive detail and military theory, Hoyt forcefully contends that the Normandy campaign was both unduly costly and ultimately unnecessary, and that in the final analysis it lengthened an already devastating war. An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections.?-The Midwest Book Review

?An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections.?-Reviewer's Bookwatch

"An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections."-Reviewer's Bookwatch

..."a meticulous and exacting survey and analysis of the campaign waged by Allied forces in Sicily and Italy. Combining extensive detail and military theory, Hoyt forcefully contends that the Normandy campaign was both unduly costly and ultimately unnecessary, and that in the final analysis it lengthened an already devastating war. An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections."-The Midwest Book Review