Sicily ‘43

With a subtitle of The First Assault on Fortress Europe, this hefty, 600+ page book, tackles the invasion of Sicily in 1943. It was the start of the Italian campaign demanded by Churchill and almost a training event for Normandy and D-Day the following year. In fact, there were slightly more troops landed on Sicily in one day, than there were on D-Day (160,000 against 156,000), so the use of covering air power, naval artillery and landing craft all needed to be tested and refined.

The first quarter of the book though, is taken up with planning and military politics which, to be honest, isn’t that thrilling but it does set the scene for when the invasion actually starts. With personal anecdotes scattered throughout, and regular plate sections of photos, you do get the full flavour of the conflict, which turned out to be far more brutal than expected.

• Bantam Press
• ISBN 978-1-7876-3293-6
• 604 pages. Hardback. £25

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