In June of 1944, the war north of Rome saw some of the fiercest fighting in WWII. The Allied forces in Italy, dominated by U.S. and British troops, also saw the first U.S. black division fight along side South Africans, Brazilians, Poles, French, a unit of Japanese Americans and a variety of smaller contingents. Brooks has uncovered a vast panorama of large- and small-scale combat, and has written a remarkably detailed account of a huge theater of war that time, and the public, has nearly forgotten. Illustrations.