Winter, 1944.

The Allied Forces are driving through Italy.

But about halfway between Naples and Rome, the Germans resolved to stop the enemy advance in its tracks.

The place the Germans had chosen for this stand was Monte Cassino.

Over the next few months it was to turn into one of the most famous, bitterly fought and controversial conflicts of World War II. It was here, under the shadows of the famous and ancient Benedictine Abbey, that four fierce and punishing battles were fought out between the Allies and the German Army.

Few battles of the Second World War compare with Cassino for drama of the conflict nor for the prolonged agony of the combatants or the controversy over the tactics of the commanders that was to rage for years afterwards.

'Cassino: Portrait of a Battle' is the inside, first-hand account of that titanic struggle.

Fred Majdalany, who fought in the battle as an infantry officer, provides the definitive history of Cassino, from the highest strategic level down to the bitter fighting on the ground, and the heroism and suffering of individual soldiers.

It is a classic World War Two story that will appeal to students, military specialists and the general reader alike.

Fred Majdalany's books have been widely praised.

"Majdalany recounts the battle with the clarity of full comprehension."—New Yorker

"A shrewd and valuable survey. . . . The course of the battle is lucidly and succinctly described in its successive stages."—Times Literary Supplement