In the autumn of 1944, as Patton{u2019}s army paraded through Paris, another Allied force was gathering in southern Italy. Spearheaded by over 100,000 American troops, this vast, international army was faced with a grim task{u2015}break The Gothic Line, a series of interconnected German fortifications that stretched across the mountains of northern Italy. Striving to reach Europe{u2019}s vulnerable underbelly before the Red Army, these Allied soldiers fought uphill against entrenched enemies in some of the final and most brutal battles of the Second World War.

Preface : Attacking Germans in Defensive Positions: "a most unpleasant and hazardous operation" ; Part One: Introduction -- The Road to the Gothic Line ; Part Two : Before the Line ; Part Three : On the Line ; Part Four : Behind the Line ; Part Five : After the Line ; Epilogue : What Became of the Characters in the Book?