The Day of Battle: A Look at the War in Sicily and Italy During 1943-1944

Keith F. Massey: Having read the first in the author’s trilogy I was really looking forward to this second book.

I was certainly not disappointed. The reader is presented with a detailed account covering all aspects of the campaigns in Sicily and Italy, from the experiences of the front line participants to the political and nationalist machinations of the senior commanders and their political masters.

The detailed accounts of combat operations are both riveting and at the same time harrowing. We are introduced to participants and come to know them as they cope with the hell that was thrust upon them and for my part there was genuine shock and sadness when individuals made the ultimate sacrifice.

This is a well written and engrossing story highly recommended for the general reader and those with an interest in the Second World War. It stands as a fitting tribute to all those who fought for the cause of freedom.

United Kingdom on Apr 09, 2023

Blu: From an American's perspective, an eloquent diatribe of the Allied WWII efforts in Sicily and Italy. Disturbing of the countless deaths, casualties, destruction, caused by the U.S. Army's higher command's failure to incorporate essential battle elements into simple detailed tactical plans for achieving victory, including: (1) terrain, (2) foliage, (3) temperature, (4) weather, (5) elevation, particularly favorable heights, (6) appropriate fighting apparel.
Moreover, negative consequences resulted from uncooperation and rivalry between air, navy, army, especially concerning casualties from "friendly fire." For instance, "five confused P-40 Warhawks heeled over in a bombing and strafing run .... More than one hundred men were killed or wounded" (p. 551). Further, extreme inepitude caused ""[m]ore American artillery fell on American soldiers" (p. 545). Such extreme errors cannot be compensated. "The meshing of infantry, armor, artillery, air, and combat arms into an integrated battle force -- the essence of modern combat -- remained ragged; at times it was unclear whether Allied air and ground forces were even fighting the same campaign" (p. 173).
Patton was not alone in the...

United States on Mar 01, 2023

Roi Bini: Very interesting

Italy on May 20, 2022

Tom Woroby: Pulls no punches regarding the errors of the "newcomers", and the difficulties of facing the massive
tasks ahead.

Tom

Canada on May 07, 2022

William Erickson: I'm about halfway through THE DAY OF BATTLE: THE WAR IN SICILY AND ITALY, 1943-44, the second volume of Rick Atkinson's masterpiece, THE LIBERATION TRILOGY, about the American army and air force in Europe in World War II. (I've already read the other two excellent volumes of his trilogy, AN ARMY AT DAWN, which is about the North African campaign -- a fiasco generally -- for which Atkinson won a well-deserved Pulitzer, and GUNS AT LAST LIGHT, which describes the final year of the war, post D-Day, when my Dad served over there in a rifle company.)

I am utterly in awe of Atkinson's writing, but I am infinitely more in awe and in admiration of the gallant men he writes about, men of my Dad's generation.

Italy in 1943-44 was hell on earth. The combat there was as bad or worse than any fighting in the American Civil War or in either World War.

Here is a shocking and particularly moving passage from this book, pp. 343-345:

"Off they went, trudging like men sent to the scaffold. A soldier stumping down a sunken road toward the Rapido [River] observed, 'There was a dead man every ten yards, just like they were in formation.' Close to the river, the formation...

United States on Feb 28, 2016

Paul Blake: Dear oh dear. Although I found this book interesting I just had to write a review about it's bias toward the Americans and almost contempt toward the British.You would think the British played no part in the Italian campaign after reading this book.I was a bit surprised and disappointed about this,especially as I had already read An Army At Dawn and found that to be a more balanced and fair account of the war in north Africa.Not taking away from the bravery of anyone who fought in the war,I thought Mr.Atkinson was quick to praise every other nationality and equally quick to criticize the British.Fair enough,he didn't make out that every thing the Americans did was right or good,but he didn't have anything positive to say about the British at all.
I have bought The Guns At Last Light and am looking forward to reading it,but I hope the final installment of the trilogy is kinder and fairer to the nation that had been at war since 1939, and whose people and armed forces had fought on alone against the Nazis when everyone else had succumbed to them.

United Kingdom on Mar 15, 2015

Michael Bridger: Finally, we have a history of a largely forgotten theatre of World War 2 which correctly apportions coverage between the 6 week Sicilian campaign and the incredibly hard grind on the mainland which came afterwards. Most historians cover the Sicilian campaign in depth but lose interest in what happened after the junction of the armies in Messina. In this book, Mr. Atkinson reveals the shoe-string nature of the campaign in mainland Italy, the tenacity and often brilliance of the German defense, the appalling weather conditions and above-all the miserable lot of the infantryman. The section on Monte Cassino is a tour de force of profound research and captures the sheer brutality of the fighting. Anzio receives similarly perceptive and profound treatment. Mr. Atkinson emphasizes that the US battalions that fought these campaigns were still essentially amateurs who often suffered and died because of the inexperience of their officers. The book is a fitting tribute to those who fought.

Canada on Aug 29, 2014