cover image Tug of War: The Battle for Italy, 1943-1945

Tug of War: The Battle for Italy, 1943-1945

Dominick Graham. St. Martin's Press, $24.95 (445pp) ISBN 978-0-312-82323-8

This is a first-class analysis of Allied operations in Italy against skilled and powerful German forces under the command of Albert Kesselring, a master of defensive warfare. Much of the discussion here has to do with what Graham and Bidwell, coauthors of Fire Power, call ""the grit in the gearbox of coalition warfare,'' a coalition of American, British, Canadian, New Zealand, French and Polish units whose commanders were not cooperative. The authors are astute in their evaluation of the generals in question and their troops as well. General Mark Clark comes across, for instance, as a grudge-bearing Anglophobe who won victories almost in spite of himself. The fighting abilities of the French and Canadian troops in particular are roundly praised, in contrast to the American and British troops whose weaknesses are analyzed in detail. Tug of War is mainly a study of the dynamics of planning and execution over a period of 20 months, from the point of view of the Allied generals. Recommended for serious students of military history. (July 28)