On July 10, 1943, two great Allied armadas of over 2,000 ships readied to invade Sicily. This was Operation Husky, the first step toward winning a toehold in fascist-occupied Europe. Among the invaders were 20,000 Canadian troops serving in the First Canadian Infantry Division and First Canadian Tank Brigade — in their first combat experience. Over the next 28 days, the Allied troops carved a path through the rugged land, despite fierce German opposition. Drawing on firsthand accounts of veterans and official military records, Operation Husky offers a gripping, meticulous account of this seminal operation and the young men who fought, died, and survived it.

Bitter Victory illuminates a chapter of World War II that has lacked a balanced, full-scale treatment until now. In recounting the second-largest amphibious operation in military history, Carlo D'Este for the first time reveals the conflicts in planning and the behind-the-scenes quarrels between top Allied commanders. The book explodes the myth of the Patton-Montgomery rivalry and exposes how Alexander's inept generalship nearly wrecked the campaign. D'Este documents in chilling detail the series of savage battles fought against an overmatched but brilliant foe and how the Germans—against overwhelming odds—carried out one of the greatest strategic withdrawals in history. His controversial narrative depicts for the first time how the Allies bungled their attempt to cut off the Axis retreat from Sicily, turning what ought to have been a great triumph into a bitter victory that later came to haunt the Allies in Italy. Using a wealth of original sources, D'Este paints an unforgettable portrait of men at war. From the front lines to the councils of the Axis and Allied high commands, Bitter Victory offers penetrating reassessments of the men who masterminded the campaign. Thrilling and authoritative, this is military history on an epic scale.

In the second volume of his epic trilogy about the liberation of Europe in World War II, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Atkinson tells the harrowing story of the campaigns in Sicily and Italy.

With victory in North Africa complete, the Allies had a choice. The Americans wanted an early cross channel attack from Britain on North West Europe. Churchill favored invading the soft underbelly of Italy to weaken the Axis forces and gain Italian surrender. With Eisenhowers army and battle-hardened Eighth Army in North Africa, Churchill prevailed.The ambitious Operation HUSKY required meticulous planning. Montgomery's Eighth Army and Patton's Seventh landed successfully although the air landing proved costly. While the outcome was not in doubt the mountainous terrain acted in the defenders favor. The German presence was higher than expected and the vast bulk of the enemy were Italian. In little over a month, the first Americans reached Messina.The strategic plan was successful: the Italian capitulated, Hitler had to reinforce his Southern flank relieving pressure on the Soviets and valuable lessons were learned by Allied for D-Day.

A detailed examination of Operation Husky, the US and British invasion and conquest of the Italian island of Sicily. Not only did the Sicily operation represent a watershed in tactical development of combined arms tactics, it was also an important test for future Allied joint operations. Senior British commanders left the North African theater with a jaundiced and dismissive view of the combat capabilities of the inexperienced US Army after the debacle at Kasserine Pass in Tunisia in February 1943. Sicily was a demonstration that the US Army had rapidly learned its lessons and was now capable of fighting as a co-equal of the British Army. The Sicily campaign contained a measure of high drama as Patton took the reins of the Seventh US Army and bent the rules of the theater commander in a bold race to take Palermo on the northern Sicilian coast. When stiff German resistance halted Montgomery's main assault to Messina through the mountains, Patton was posed to be the first to reach the key Sicilian port and end the campaign. This richly-illustrated volume details the highs and lows of the Sicily campaign, including the disastrous problems with early airborne assaults and the Allied failure to seal the straits of Messina, allowing the Germans to withdraw many of their best forces.

A major new history of one of World War II's most crucial campaigns--the first Allied attack on European soil--by the acclaimed author of Normandy '44 and a rising star in military history

The ninth volume in Admiral Morison's history takes up the story of American naval activities in the Mediterranean where Volume II left off, and covers three major amphibious operations-the invasion of Sicily, the capture of the Salerno beachhead, and the long Anzio beachhead struggle. In all three the United States Navy distinguished itself, both for impeccable performance in landing the Army where it wanted to go, and in supporting with naval gunfire the troops fighting ashore.

British, American and Commonwealth troops were issued with a copy of the ‘Soldier’s Guide to Sicily’. With a foreword written by the US Army’s General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the booklet was produced to help the Allies prepare for Operation Husky: the invasion of Sicily. Eisenhower was the Commander in Chief for the operation. He wrote: “The successful conclusion of these operations will NOT only strike closer to the heart of the Axis, but also will remove the last threat to the free sea lanes of the Mediterranean.” The guide warns troops about the hot, dry weather of the sirocco they were likely to encounter – and rightly so: the fierce heat combined with swampy conditions on parts of the island meant some combatants contract malaria. The book also contains advice with descriptions of the island, pictures of some towns and makes remarks about its people.

The untold story of the bloodiest and most dramatic march to victory of the Second World War—now a Netflix original series starring Jose Miguel Vasquez, Bryan Hibbard, and Bradley James “Exceptional . . . worthy addition to vibrant classics of small-unit history like Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers.”—Wall Street Journal Written with Alex Kershaw's trademark narrative drive and vivid immediacy, The Liberator traces the remarkable battlefield journey of maverick U.S. Army officer Felix Sparks through the Allied liberation of Europe—from the first landing in Italy to the final death throes of the Third Reich. Over five hundred bloody days, Sparks and his infantry unit battled from the beaches of Sicily through the mountains of Italy and France, ultimately enduring bitter and desperate winter combat against the die-hard SS on the Fatherland's borders. Having miraculously survived the long, bloody march across Europe, Sparks was selected to lead a final charge to Bavaria, where he and his men experienced some of the most intense street fighting suffered by Americans in World War II. And when he finally arrived at the gates of Dachau, Sparks confronted scenes that robbed the mind of reason—and put his humanity to the ultimate test.

A vivid chronicle of the first battle between British and German paratroopers—the unsung battle that prefigured the Battle of Arnhem. From July 13 to 16, 1943, British paratroopers fought for control of a strategically important bridge in Sicily. Now, the Battle of Primosole Bridge is brought to life in the first narrative solely dedicated to one of the bloodiest and hardest-fought battles for British airborne troops of World War II. The British paratroopers of the famed 1st Parachute Brigade, known as the “Red Devils,” fought their equally esteemed German paratrooper opponents, known as the “Green Devils,” during the Allies’ first invasion of Hitler’s Fortress Europe. The paratroopers found themselves cut off behind enemy lines with dwindling ammunition as they faced ever-growing enemy forces. Yet they courageously maintained the fight until ground forces arrived to capture the bridge before it was destroyed. The hard-won experience of the 1st Parachute Brigade was then tested only a year later in an almost identical battle on a larger scale: The Battle of Arnhem—the battle christened “a bridge too far.” While Arnhem is well documented, the events at Primosole Bridge deserve to be told at last.