Volume tells untold stories of World War II

By PHIL DAVIS

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The American Army was still coming of age when its soldiers stormed the Rapido river in Italy in January 1944. The result was a bloody fiasco, bluntly summed up by one commander: “Nothing was right except the courage.”

The hard lessons of America’s brutal but successful campaigns in North Africa and Italy set the stage for the invasion of Europe. But the battles are often lost in the shadow of D-Day.

“The Day of Battle” is Pulitizer Prize-winning author Rick Atkinson’s account of America’s fight in Italy. The hefty book is the second in Atkinson’s Liberation Trilology, a painstaking reconstruction of the U.S. effort to free Europe in World War II. The first, “An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943,” won a Pulitzer Prize for history in 2003.

Atkinson has spent more than a decade researching the books. The former Washington Post reporter also has tackled contemporary conflicts, including the war in Iraq. “Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War,” is a 13-year-old history that merits a second read in light of the current debate over America’s current fight in Iraq.

Atkinson’s war histories are appropriately detailed but far from boring.

“The Day of Battle” zooms from the highest levels of command into the midst of battle. A soldier at the Rapido assault notes, “It was the only time I ever saw a man’s heart flopping around in his chest.” A few pages later, generals trade missives for the bad tactics that resulted in the man’s misfortune and 2,000 other casualties.

“The Day of Battle” is not light reading. But Atkinson’s blend of global perspective, general’s tactics and personal accounts make it a compelling read for anyone who understands that reality is often more exciting and amazing than fiction.