Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Monte Cassino: Armoured Forces in the Battle for the Gustav Line (Images of War) (edition 2018)by Jeffrey PLOWMAN (Author)
Work InformationMonte Cassino: Amoured Forces in the Battle for the Gustav Line (Images of War) by Jeffrey Plowman None Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher Series
"This book is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the Italian campaign of the Second World War, and the use of armor in that war."--British Military History The battles fought between the Allied armies and the German Wehrmacht at Monte Cassino in 1944 were key episodes in the protracted Italian campaign, and the eventual Allied victory was a decisive step in the wider war to liberate Europe from German occupation. Much has been written about Cassino, but few books have chosen to tell the story through photographs--to give a visual insight into the fighting and the forces involved, the conditions in which they fought, and the landscape around the Monte Cassino abbey which became a battlefield. That is why Jeffrey Plowman's photographic history is of such value. Using almost 200 wartime images, many of which have not been published before, he gives a graphic impression of the realities of the fighting as it was experienced by the troops on the ground. He focuses on the tanks--the array of armored vehicles deployed by both sides which played a critical role. This aspect of Cassino has rarely been covered in such detail and in such a vivid way. The book will be of special interest to modelers and historians of armored warfare, but it will also appeal to readers who have a more general interest in the Italian campaign. "The amount of information provided for each photograph is exceptional . . . I commend the author for building such a comprehensive portfolio of fascinating images."--Walking the Battlefields No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNone
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)940.54215History and Geography Europe Europe 1918- Military History Of World War II Campaigns and battles by theatre European theatre ItalyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
My over-riding conclusion having digested the book (does one read a book of photographs?) is the nature of the terrain over which the Allied armoured units had to operate. The Allied shelling and bombing only made the situation worse, and one can sense why the Battles for Cassino were essentially infantry led.
It would be wrong to imply that there are only photographs in this book, as each chapter has a written introduction to place it in context. Having said that, the raison d’etre for the book are the photographs. I was pleased that I had not seen most, if not all, of these photographs before. Having just finished reading another book Monte Cassino, this one was very useful in providing a visual history of the events of early 1944.
On the basis of the quality of the photographs, this book is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the Italian campaign of the Second World War, and the use of armour in that war. ( )