Sicily '43: A Times Book of the Year

(Paperback)

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Description

From the bestselling author of Normandy '44, containing new and unpublished research, this is the largely untold story of the critical campaign that became a vital precursor to D-Day. 'James Holland is the best of the new generation of WW2 historians.' Sebastian Faulks 'Holland's skill lies in bringing these warriors to life with vivid prose.' The Times Shortlisted for the 2021 British Army Military Book of the Year _________________________________________________ This is the story of the biggest seaborne landing in history. Codenamed Operation HUSKY, the assault on Sicily on 10 July 1943 remains the largest amphibious invasion ever mounted. That day, over 160,000 Allied troops were dropped from the sky or came ashore to begin the fight for Europe. The subsequent thirty-eight-day Battle for Sicily was one of the most dramatic of the entire war, involving daring raids by special forces, deals with the Mafia, attacks across mosquito-infested plains and perilous assaults up almost sheer faces of rock and scree. Made worse by virulent disease and extreme heat, the Allies also had to fight their way across an island of unforgiving landscape and limited infrastructure against a German foe who would not give up. Victory would signal the beginning of the end of the War in the West. From here on, the noose began to tighten around the neck of Nazi Germany. The coalition between the United States and Britain finally came of age. And it was a crucial dry run for Operation OVERLORD, the invasion of Normandy on D-Day a year later.

Reviews

Marshalling a wealth of primary and secondary sources into an engrossing narrative, Holland fills a yawning gap in histories of WWII. This magisterial account is a must-read for military history fans. * Publishers Weekly *
Perfect territory for a military historian of Holland's talents * The Times *
Historians too often neglect that emotional tapestry. War is characterised as arrows on a map, tables of munitions, cold casualty statistics. Holland's skill lies in bringing these warriors to life with vivid prose. He's a prolific historian of the war, but each book is constructed with great care and emotional commitment...Holland is obsessed with war, but fortunately does not seem to love it. He recognises its beauty, but also its vileness * The Times *
Holland argues very effectively that the success of Husky was a turning point in the war * Times Literary Supplement *
Holland makes the capture of the island one of the great turning-point battles of the war * Military History Matters *

Author Bio

James Holland is a historian, writer and broadcaster. The author of a number of bestselling histories, including Battle of Britain, Dam Busters, Normandy '44 and, most recently, Brothers In Arms, he has also written nine works of historical fiction, including the Jack Tanner novels. He has presented - and written - a large number of television programmes and series for the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic, and the History and Discovery channels. A three-part documentary series based on his bestselling book Normandy '44 under the same title can be found on Amazon Prime. James is co-founder of the Chalke Valley History Festival and of WarGen.org, an online Second World War resource site, and presents the Chalke Valley History Hit podcast. He also presents We Have Ways of Making You Talk, a podcast with Al Murray in which they discuss the Second World War. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @James1940.