At the beginning of 1944, Italy was the western Allies' only active front against Nazi-controlled Europe, and their only route to the capital was through the Liri valley. Towering over the entrance to the valley was the medieval monastery of Monte Cassino, a seemingly impenetrable fortress high up in the "bleak and sinister" mountains. This was where the German commander, Kesselring, made his stand. This study tells the extraordinary story of ordinary soldiers tested to the limits under conditions more typical of the horrors of World War I. In a battle that became increasingly political, symbolic and personal as it progressed, more and more men were asked to throw themselves at the virtually impregnable German defences. It is a story of incompetence, hubris and politics, redeemed at dreadful cost by the heroism of the soldiers. Over 350,000 men were killed or wounded in the six-month struggle and this is their story.