Product Description

This is the story of the Anglo-American amphibious assault and subsequent battle on the Italian west coast at Anzio which was launched in January 1944 in a bold attempt to outflank the formidable German defences known as the 'Gustav Line'. ANZIO - THE FRICTION OF WAR outlines the strategic background to the offensive before detailing the landing, the development of an Allied defensive position, the battles in and around the perimeter, the stalemate, the breakout and the capture of Rome on 4 June 1944. While assessing the events at Anzio with the eye of an experienced military historian, Lloyd Clark also examines in detail the human response to the battle from high command to foot soldier. He also emphasises the German story - the first time this has ever been done. 

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24457 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review

'Lloyd Clark's lucid, elegantly written book is well overdue... Absolutely first class'

About the Author

Currently Senior Lecturer at the Dept of War Studies, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Lloyd Clark is one of the UK's leading military historians. He has written several books, has lectured all over the world, is a frequent guide to battlefields on four continents and has worked extensively on radio and TV as both historical adviser and interviewee. He has conducted several battlefield tours to Anzio.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant. The book that we have been waiting for.
I have been waiting for a book on Anzio like this for some time. I have read others, but none are as accessible as this book by Lloyd Clark. The way in which the author provides strategic perspective, details of various operations and what it was like to fight in the battle is extremely useful. I cannot applaude Clark loudly enough for the way in which he interweaves the various elements of this sad but exciting story - land, sea, air, political, military, American, British, German, Italian, high command, fighting troops... This is a pacey book written with authority, balance and perspective - as you would expect with a lecturer from Sandhurst. I liked the author's emphasis on the human story as well. He has interviewed many interesting participants and used the diaries of many more. I rarely read military history and feel an emotional response to what I have read, but with this book I did. In short, it is brilliantly written. All of this and I haven't mentioned the Anzio story! An amazing tale of battles not only with the elements and the Germans, but also amongst the Allies commanders. A great story that needed to be told. Lloyd Clark has done an excellent job.

I couldn't put this book down!
I read this book in just two sittings. The hours just flew by. The story is just so compulsive that I had to find out what happened next. It is written in such a style that keeps the reader as interested in the charaters as much as the events. It just hooks you and reels the reader in. The story of Anzio is not one that I knew much about, but this was such an eye-opener that I can not believe that I had neglected WWII in Italy for so long. Anzio was an awful battle, and I did not realise how close the troops that landed on that coast near Rome in 1944 came to being pushed back in the Med. This was like a WWI battle using WWII weapons and tactics. Bloody, relentless and awesome. This is a first class book. Outstanding in every way. The author is a master story teller, but backs it up with detailed research. He just has a way of making military history not only educational, but a pleasure to read - which, as we all know, is not always the case. Outstanding.

A Classy Page Turner
I am writing this review at the end of Boxing Day - less than 48 hours after being given this book as a Christmas gift - and I have finished it. This may say something about my dull Yule, but it is more to do with this book. I gobbled up nearly 400 pages saying to myself 'one my chapter...one more chapter', and before I knew where I was, Christmas had gone and I'd finished the book! My wife knows that I like history, and I have read just about everything by Beevor, Holmes and Hastings, and I shall now do the same with Lloyd Clark. Anzio is just so readable, and like all good history it carries its research lightly. Brilliantly written, a captivating battle and above all, moving and highly atmospheric.