Invasion Diary

Wisconsin Bookwatch, August, 2004

Invasion Diary

Richard Tregaskis

Bison Books

c/o University of Nebraska Press

233 N. 8th St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0255

www.nebraskapress.unl.edu

0803294557 $14.95 1-402-472-3581

Hard fought and with an enormous causality count, the 1943 Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy were critically important in overthrowing Mussolini, pinning down German troops so they could not be transferred for use on the Russian Front or to resent the Allies' western campaign that began with the Normandy D-Day invasions. Invasion Diary is the late journalist Richard Tregaskis (1916-1973) personal and diary based memoirs of witnessing the Sicilian and Italian campaigns including his near death from a shrapnel wound in the front lines of the Italian campaign. This eye-witness account is an invaluable addition to the growing library of World War II European Theatre literature and highly recommended reading for military buffs and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in 20th century American military history.