Shelfology Book Pairing

The War in Sicily and Italy 1943-44

by Rick Atkinson

In An Army at Dawn - winner of the Pulitzer Prize - Rick Atkinson provided a dramatic and authoritative history of the Allied triumph in North Africa. Now, in The Day of the Battle, he follows the strengthening American and British armies as they invade Sicily in July 1943 and then, mile by bloody mile, fight their way north. The Italian campaign's outcome was never certain; in fact, Roosevelt, Churchill and their military advisors engaged in heated debate about whether an invasion of the so-called soft underbelly of Europe was even a good idea. But once underway, the commitment to liberate Italy from the Nazis never wavered, despite the agonizingly high price. The battles at Salerno, Anzio, and Monte Cassino were particularly difficult and lethal, yet as the months passed, the Allied forces continued to push the Germans up the Italian peninsula. And with the liberation of Rome in June 1944, ultimate victory at last began to seem inevitable. Drawing on an astonishing array of primary source material, written with great drama and flair, this is narrative history of the first rank.

How the Bomber Boys Broke Down the Nazi War Machine

by Donald L. Miller

They flew through flak and fire in the deadliest skies of the Second World War. With an introduction by Tom Hanks, aviation art by Gil Cohen and a detailed fold-out of B-17 aircraft plans, Masters of the Air is a powerful, image-rich tribute to the bomber crews of the Eighth Air Force who helped turn the tide of the war. -- Publisher website