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

"Tug of War: The Battle for Italy, 1943-1945" by Dominick Graham and Shelford Bidwell is a work that rightly belongs on the shelves of all serious students of the Second World War who have interest in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations for its depth of topic. Graham and Bidwell present a thoroughly researched treatise of the topic (ie., the Allied invasion and battles for control of Italy) that covers strategic and operational issues, as well as command personalities, in great detail. Not surprisingly given the level of detail provided (especially in passages where combat actions are being described temporally and spatially) the authors have utilized both a great deal of primary (e.g., after-action reports, unit war diaries, etc.) and secondary (e.g., researched works of other historian/authors) sources. Unfortunately for the reader/student Graham and Bidwell give only a rough idea of what their primary sources were and provide only a 'selected' bibliography. In this regard the reader/student needs to trust the research of the authors' as one cannot easily verify statements. Yet, the depth of topic discussion is truly impressive and the serious will not be disappointed (as long as the aforementioned caveat is taken into account). "Tug of War" spans a little over 400 pages and is separated into eight sections, each dedicated to particular periods of action in the Italian theater, usually temporally, but also spatially (geographically). The first two sections of the book, I-Soft Target and II-Salerno are focused on the 'why' (section I) and initial 'how' (section II) the Italian Theater of Operations came into existence in late 1943. After a relatively short section dedicated to the Salerno-Anzio inter-period (section III), the authors present a 99 pp. section (IV) dedicated to the Anzio landings and subsequent bloodletting to defend (Allied) and regain (German) the bridgehead. Not surprisingly given the historical importance and interest in this particular action, this section is extremely well done. Section V gives a discussion of the period after the long Anzio stalemate to the planning (section VI) and initiation of Operation DIADEM, the final thrust out of the Anzio and Cassino areas to Rome (section VII). These last two sections are particularly interesting since the Anzio action often overshadows all that follows in many accounts of the Italian campaigns. The final section (proper) of the book deals with the final battles (still very bloody) aimed at finally breaking the German resistance in Italy after the fall of Rome to the end of hostilities. As was true of the previous two sections, this final section provides much material for student rumination. All in all the depth of coverage throughout the book is quite impressive and the serious will certainly not be disappointed. The remainder of the book (minus the final six pages) gives a chronology of events in the theatre; reference sources, bibliography (again not done f