{"title":"Ian Blackwell","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"battle-for-sicily-stepping-stone-to-victory-book-ian-blackwell-9781844157594","title":"Battle for Sicily: Stepping Stone to Victory","description":"On the night of 9-10 July 1943, an Allied armada launched the invasion of Sicily, a larger operation than the Normandy landings the following year.  Over the next thirty-eight days, half a million Allied servicemen fought the Germans and Italians for control of this rocky island, which was to become the first part of Axis homeland to fall during World War II.Despite their success in capturing the island, inter-Allied and inter-service divisions and rivalries robbed them of the opportunity to inflict a crushing defeat on the Germans and Italians, who were able to conduct a fighting withdrawal to the Italian mainland and save sizable forces to continue the war.  Regarded by some as a 'blind alley', by others as the way into Europe via the 'soft underbelly', the decision to invade Sicily was and remains controversial.  Notwithstanding the campaign's failure to achieve its potential, invaluable lessons were learned which contributed to success in France later.  Many of the leading generals who were to take prominent roles in North-West Europe - amongst them Eisenhower, Montgomery, Bradley and Patton - brought with them the experience of Sicily.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49533936730385,"sku":"GOR007212098","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49540583325969,"sku":"GOR006148579","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50400877084945,"sku":"CIN1844157598G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50407709344017,"sku":"GOR011369339","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51113427763473,"sku":"GOR003797754","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51332388028689,"sku":"CIN1844157598A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1844157598.jpg?v=1751446286"},{"product_id":"anzio-italy-1944-book-ian-blackwell-9781844154739","title":"Anzio: Italy 1944","description":"In an attempt to outflank the German Gustav Line running across Italy, Operation SHINGLE was launched on January 22nd 1944. Achieving complete surprise, the Allies made a successful landing at Anzio, but paused rather than pushing quickly inland, a delay which gave the Germans time to seal off the area and to counterattack the beachhead. Heavy fighting took place until early March, during which the Americans and British were nearly driven into the sea, after which a stalemate was reached. In the following months the Allied forces were reinforced and in late May a breakout was made with the strategic intention of cutting off the Germans retreating from the Gustav line, which had now been pierced. However, General Mark Clark redirected the main effort of the Anzio forces towards the capture of Rome, permitting most of the enemy to escape and to fight another day. An operation that cost thousands of lives for disputed benefits, SHINGLE remains a controversial subject.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49580020564241,"sku":"GOR003568919","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49989081563409,"sku":"GOR004421831","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1844154734.jpg?v=1751060162"},{"product_id":"battle-for-sicily-book-ian-blackwell-9781399020688","title":"The Battle for Sicily","description":"On the night of 9-10 July 1943, an Allied armada launched the invasion of Sicily, a larger operation than the Normandy landings the following year. Over the next thirty-eight days, half a million Allied servicemen fought the Germans and Italians for control of this rocky island, which was to become the first part of Axis homeland to fall during World War II.  Despite their success in capturing the island, inter-Allied and inter-service divisions and rivalries robbed them of the opportunity to inflict a crushing defeat on the Germans and Italians, who were able to conduct a fighting withdrawal to the Italian mainland and save sizable forces to continue the war. Regarded by some as a blind alley, by others as the way into Europe via the soft underbelly, the decision to invade Sicily was and remains controversial.  Notwithstanding the campaigns failure to achieve its potential, invaluable lessons were learned which contributed to success in France later.  Many of the leading generals who were to take prominent roles in North-West Europe amongst them Eisenhower, Montgomery, Bradley and Patton brought with them the experience of Sicily.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49746819842321,"sku":"NGR9781399020688","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1399020684.jpg?v=1751240588"},{"product_id":"fifth-army-in-italy-1943-1945-book-ian-blackwell-9781848844872","title":"Fifth Army in Italy 1943 ? 1945","description":"The US Fifth Army first saw action during the Salerno Landings in September 1943.  While commanded by US Lieutenant General Mark Clark, from the outset one of its two Corps was the X (British) Corps; the other V1 (US) Corps.The multi-national composition of Fifth Army is demonstrated by the French Expeditionary Corps, the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, the South African Armoured Division, the Italian Co-Belligerent forces, formations from the New Zealand Corps and the 4th Indian Division.Clark's Fifth Army was itself part of the Fifteenth Army Group, commanded by Field Marshal Alexander.  Alexander's light and diplomatic touch oiled the wheels of this uneasy arrangement but inevitably there were tensions and disagreements that threatened success.The low priority accorded to Italy as compared with OVERLORD and NW Europe did not help matters.  Seen as a backwater, crack units were taken away and insufficient resources allocated to the Italian Campaign.  This combined with the tenacity of the Germans, the difficult terrain and the harsh climate caused real problems.  Allied morale was at times particularly brittle and desertion rates worryingly high.This superbly researched book objectively examines the performance of Fifth Army against this complex and troublesome backdrop. The author's findings make for informative and fascinating reading.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49907331367185,"sku":"GOR007949741","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50775326687505,"sku":"GOR010380022","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1848844875.jpg?v=1751060391"},{"product_id":"cassino-battleground-europe-book-ian-blackwell-9781844152353","title":"Cassino: Battleground Europe","description":"The world famous monastery at Monte Cassino was a key strongpoint on the Nazis' Gustav Line blocking the Allied advance on Rome. From January to March 1944 there were four distinct battles for Cassino which was fiercely defended by German elite forces.  Troops from USA, Britain, Poland, Canada, France, India and New Zealand were all thrown into the fray with appalling loss of life.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49921904050449,"sku":"GOR005932986","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53440002588945,"sku":"GOR006132214","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1844152359.jpg?v=1750768133"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-ian-blackwell.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}