The struggle to capture Monte Cassino, the impregnable heights barring the Allied advance on Rome in 1944, was the longest land battle fought in Western Europe in World War II and among the most costly. In four separate assaults over the course of the grim six-month epic, more than 105,000 men from the Allied armies and at least 80,000 Germans became casualties, and, between the attacks, the armies of both sides endured conditions of appalling privation. In John Ellis' classic account of the battle, few of the Allied commanders, except for the Free French General Juin, emerge with credit. But the author has nothing but admiration and compassion for the courage and endurance of the common soldiers whose experiences he vividly recreates in the pages of this narrative.

Bibliography: p. 515-529. Includes index. Includes maps of: [Rome - Anzio - Cassino]; Panoramic View of the Cassino Massif, Seen from Monte Trocchio; War in the Mediterranean, October 1942-September 1943; Invasion of Italy, September 1943-January 1944; Cassino to Rome - the Battlefield in January 1944; General Clark's Plan and German Dispositions prior to the First Battle, January 1944; French Expeditionary Corps Drive to the Gustav Line, 11-24 January 1944; X British Corps on the Garigliano Bridgehead, 17 January-9 February 1944; 36th U.S. Division on the Rapido, 20-22 January 1944; 11th U.S. Corps on the Cassino Massif, 24 January-12 February 1944; French Expeditionary Corps on Colle Belvedere, 25 January-3 February 1944; New Zealand Corps Attacks Monte Cassino, 15-18 February 1944; New Zealand Corps Tries Again, 15-23 March 1944; Operatoin Diadem - the Allied Drive to Rome, 11 May-4 June 1944; German Dispositions on 11 May 1944 and Subsequent Defensive Lines until 3 June; 8th Army Barracks through the Gustav and Hitler Lines, 11-25 May 1944; II Polish Corps Attacks Monte Cassino, 11-18 May 1944; 5th Army Breaks through the Gustav and Hitler Lines, 11-22 May 1944; II U.S. Corps on the Gustav Line, 12-14 May 1944; Breakout from the Anzio Beachhead, 23-30 May 1944.