Janusz Piekalkiewicz (1925–1988)

THE BATTLE FOR Monte Cassino was one of the most savage confticts of the Second World War; British, New Zealand, Indian, French, Polish and American forces were halted and locked with Kesselring's crack German troops in the drive to capture Rome. It became a long, bitter struggle in which the ancient Benedictine Abbey, dominating the line of the Allied advance, became a symbol ofthe determination ofboth sides.
Many aspects of the struggle stili remain controversia! : the tactical direction of the Allied offensive, for example, and in particular the role of Freyberg and other commanders in the destruction of the monastery and town.
Even the question of whether the battle was necessary or whether the Allies
should have by-passed Cassino altogether is stili a topi c of intense debate.
The author illuminates these and other crucial issues using a wealth of documentary evidence from Allied and German sources, and his detailed· day-today narrative provides a graphic account of how the infantry troops on both sides responded to the combat in the town, the Liri valley and on the mountain itself. The result is a uniquely rounded study of a battle which will intrigue military historians fora long time to come.
150 photographs and maps complete this excellent and invaluable record.… (mere)