Monte Cassino - Matthew Parker

At the beginning of 1944 Italy was the western Allies' only active front against Nazi-controlled Europe, and their only route to the capital was through the Liri valley. Towering over the entrance to the valley was the medieval monastery of Monte Cassino, a seemingly impenetrable fortress high up in the 'bleak and sinister' mountains. This was where the German commander, Kesselring, made his stand. MONTE CASSINO tells the extraordinary story of ordinary soldiers tested to the limits under conditions more typical of the horrors of the First World War. In a battle that became increasingly political, symbolic and personal as it progressed, more and more men were asked to throw themselves at the virtually impregnable German defences. It is a story of incompetence, hubris and politics redeemed at dreadful cost by the heroism of the soldiers. The ferocity of the battle for Monte Cassino is matched only by the bloodbaths of Verdun, Stalingrad, Passchendaele and Iwo Jima. Over 350,000 men were killed or wounded in the six-month struggle. This is their story.