Overview

A year before the much-heralded second front was opened at Normandy in 1944, the Allies waged a campaign in Sicily and Italy—an assault that was marked by argument and dissent from beginning to end, highlighting the fundamental differences in strategic thinking between the Americans and the British. Winston Churchill favored scrapping what would become the Normandy invasion entirely, focusing instead on the soft underbelly of Nazi Europe, but American planners summarily rejected any plan that relied solely on a southern option. This is the story of this backwater campaign, a series of battles skillfully staged by the Germans and so botched by the Allies that their victory was achieved only as a result of German exhaustion. During the hard-fought campaign, the Americans persisted in their suspicion that the British were trying to undermine the effort. For example, the imbroglio over the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino and the ineptness of the British assault, led by a commander already discredited by his role in the fall of Crete, would spur the Americans to overreact and destroy the monastery by bombing. This created a major propaganda victory for the Germans. Such incidents convinced both Washington and London that they were working at cross-purposes. Hoyt contends that, as the British argued at the time, Allied efforts would have been better-spent concentrating on the Balkans. The Normandy campaign was expensive, unnecessary, and ultimately lengthened the war.

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Reviews

This sharp-edged, operationally focused narrative, aimed at a general audience, demonstrates the difficulties the Allies faced during the World War II Italian campaign while arguing strongly that the campaign itself was unnecessary, the result of confused strategic planning. -Dennis Showalter United States Military Academy

This sharp-edged, operationally focused narrative, aimed at a general audience, demonstrates the difficulties the Allies faced during the World War II Italian campaign while arguing strongly that the campaign itself was unnecessary, the result of confused strategic planning. -Dennis Showalter United States Military Academy .,. a meticulous and exacting survey and analysis of the campaign waged by Allied forces in Sicily and Italy. Combining extensive detail and military theory, Hoyt forcefully contends that the Normandy campaign was both unduly costly and ultimately unnecessary, and that in the final analysis it lengthened an already devastating war. An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections. -The Midwest Book Review ?...a meticulous and exacting survey and analysis of the campaign waged by Allied forces in Sicily and Italy. Combining extensive detail and military theory, Hoyt forcefully contends that the Normandy campaign was both unduly costly and ultimately unnecessary, and that in the final analysis it lengthened an already devastating war. An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections.?-The Midwest Book Review ?An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections.?-Reviewer's Bookwatch An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections. -Reviewer's Bookwatch ... a meticulous and exacting survey and analysis of the campaign waged by Allied forces in Sicily and Italy. Combining extensive detail and military theory, Hoyt forcefully contends that the Normandy campaign was both unduly costly and ultimately unnecessary, and that in the final analysis it lengthened an already devastating war. An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections. -The Midwest Book Review

... a meticulous and exacting survey and analysis of the campaign waged by Allied forces in Sicily and Italy. Combining extensive detail and military theory, Hoyt forcefully contends that the Normandy campaign was both unduly costly and ultimately unnecessary, and that in the final analysis it lengthened an already devastating war. An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections. -The Midwest Book Review An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections. -Reviewer's Bookwatch ?An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections.?-Reviewer's Bookwatch ?...a meticulous and exacting survey and analysis of the campaign waged by Allied forces in Sicily and Italy. Combining extensive detail and military theory, Hoyt forcefully contends that the Normandy campaign was both unduly costly and ultimately unnecessary, and that in the final analysis it lengthened an already devastating war. An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections.?-The Midwest Book Review .,. a meticulous and exacting survey and analysis of the campaign waged by Allied forces in Sicily and Italy. Combining extensive detail and military theory, Hoyt forcefully contends that the Normandy campaign was both unduly costly and ultimately unnecessary, and that in the final analysis it lengthened an already devastating war. An intriguing analysis, Backwater War is an impressive and welcome contribution to personal reading lists and Military History collections. -The Midwest Book Review This sharp-edged, operationally focused narrative, aimed at a general audience, demonstrates the difficulties the Allies faced during the World War II Italian campaign while arguing strongly that the campaign itself was unnecessary, the result of confused strategic planning. -Dennis Showalter United States Military Academy

Author Information

EDWIN P. HOYT is an independent historian. He is the author of more than 150 books, mostly in the area of military history, including The Last Kamikaze (Praeger, 1993) and Hirohito (Praeger, 1992). Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Hoyt turned his attention to journalism after service in the Pacific theater during World War II. He has written for the Denver Post, Collier's Magazine, and American Heritage, as well as for CBS news.

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