The Liri Valley: Canada's World War II Breakthrough to Rome

J.L. Granatstein, Distinguished Research Professor of History Emeritus,
York University, served as Director of the Canadian War Museum from 1998
to 2000. He is the author of Who Killed Canadian History? and co-author
of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most Infl

Popular historian Mark Zuehlke has established a reputation as the
country’s leading historian of the Canadian campaign in Italy in World
War II. His first book on the battle of Ortona at Christmas 1943 was
based on extensive research in the records and many interviews, and this
second of three volumes covers the role of the Canadian Corps in
cracking the German defences in the Liri Valley in May 1944. Zuehlke
works fast and he makes mistakes, but he has an undoubted grasp of what
is important: the 1st Canadian Infantry and 5th Canadian Armoured
Divisions smashed the Hitler Line defences in fierce and bloody
fighting, opening the way to Rome—and most Canadians know nothing
about this. Partly this is the Canadian public’s total lack of
knowledge of their history; but even more, it is that Italy had
something of the character of a sideshow, especially as the battle for
Rome took place in the buildup for the invasion of France. D-Day soon
made everyone forget about the “D-Day Dodgers,” and even history has
not caught up.

This is good work, heavy on the personal details of ordinary soldiers,
shrewd about the commanders, and with a clear grasp of the strategic
essentials. Zuehlke’s third volume will be awaited.