 The Day of Battle
The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944
Reviews:
..."The Liberation Trilogy," which is shaping up as a triumph of
narrative history, elegantly written, thick with unforgettable
description and rooted in the sights and sounds of battle.
[Atkinson] excels at describing the furor of battle, and the Italian
campaign provides him with abundant raw material. Mr. Atkinson, a
longtime correspondent and editor for The Washington Post,
conveys all of this with sharp-edged immediacy and a keen eye for
the monstrous and the absurd.
Read full review.
— The New
York Times
The majestic sequel to his Pulitzer Prize-winning An Army at Dawn …
Atkinson’s achievement is to marry prodigious research with a
superbly organized narrative and then to overlay the whole with
writing as powerful and elegant as any great narrative of war.
—The Wall Street Journal
"Monumental … With this book, Rick Atkinson cements his place
among America’s great popular historians, in the tradition of Bruce
Catton and Stephen Ambrose."
—The Washington Post
...it is his ability to ferret out astonishing amounts of detail
and marshal it into a highly readable whole that gives Atkinson the
edge over most writers in this field. Anyone who devoured An
Army at Dawn with relish will be delighted with his account of
the Sicilian and Italian campaign. All the same ingredients are
here, from sharp one-liners... to brilliantly observed character
portraits.
— The New
York Times Book Review
[A] fascinating account of the war in Sicily and Italy.
—USA Today
Gripping …. [Atkinson] combines an impressive depth of research with
a knack for taut, compelling narrative.
—Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul)
Splendid … the infantrymen who did the fighting will grab at
readers’ hearts.
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
With The Day of Battle, Atkinson again proves himself to stand among
the ranks of our most talented popular historians … required reading
for anyone with an interest in the battles of World War II.
—Austin American-Statesman
A seamless, stunning narrative that is the equal of An Army at Dawn
…. Atkinson’s success lies in his ability to render bare war’s
wretched realities in astounding prose.
—Contra Costa Times
Atkinson surpasses his Pulitzer-winning An Army at Dawn
in this empathetic, perceptive analysis of the second stage in the
U.S. Army's grassroots development from well-intentioned amateurs to
the most formidable fighting force of World War II. The battles in
Sicily and Italy developed the combat effectiveness and the
emotional hardness of a U.S. Army increasingly constrained to bear
the brunt of the Western allies' war effort, he argues. Demanding
terrain, harsh climate and a formidable opponent confirmed the
lesson of North Africa: the only way home was through the Germans:
kill or be killed. Atkinson is pitilessly accurate demonstrating the
errors and misjudgments of senior officers, Field Marshal Sir Harold
Alexander, Gen. Mark Clark and their subordinates commanding corps
and divisions. The price was paid in blood by the men at the sharp
end: British and French, Indians and North Africans-above all,
Americans. All that remained of the crew of one burned-out tank were
the fillings of their teeth, for one example. The Mediterranean
campaign is frequently dismissed by soldiers and scholars as a
distraction from the essential objective of invading northern
Europe. Atkinson makes a convincing case that it played a decisive
role in breaking German power, forcing the Wehrmacht onto a
defensive it could never abandon.
— Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
Atkinson, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, has written a
comprehensive account of the campaign, which is the second volume of
a planned trilogy covering the Allied liberation of Europe. As he
illustrates with masterful use of primary sources, British and
American war planners were deeply divided over the necessity of the
campaign. Once launched, Allied attacks were frequently improvised
and poorly coordinated. Still, progress was made, ending with the
liberation of Rome in June 1944. Atkinson conveys the confusion and
grinding difficulty of the Allied advance as experienced by ordinary
soldiers while also providing interesting insights into the
character of some of the top commanders.
— Booklist
The second volume of this former Washington Post
editor's "Liberation" trilogy, which began with the Pulitzer
Prize-winning An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa,
1942–1943, this is probably the most eagerly awaited World War
II book of the year. Atkinson's clear prose, perceptive analysis,
and grasp of the personalities and nuances of the campaigns make his
book an essential purchase.
— Library Journal (starred review)
Literate, lucid, fast-paced history—an excellent survey of the
Mediterranean campaign.
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Online Reviews:
booksaremyonlyfriends.blogspot.com
brothersjuddblog.com
conservativemonitor.com
curledup.com
DuskBeforetheDawn.net
historycentral.com
military.com
radicalacademy.com
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