Italian Odyssey: The Second New Zealand Division in Italy 1943-45

"Wright is one who has been able to place himself within the culture and sense the history...This new book is a worthy contribution to our understanding..."- Frank Glen, 'The Southland Times', 14 June 2003."Author Matthew Wright... has brought the Italian campaign alive. The book is as important as it is highly readable - so much better than the standard military histories".- Graeme Hunt, 'The National Business Review', 17 October 2003. In September 1943, the Second New Zealand Division landed in Italy, beginning a twenty month ground campaign that took the New Zealanders from Taranto to Trieste. It was dominated by the two-month siege of Cassino, a bitter struggle in the depths of winter that remains controversial even seventy years on.In this short account of the New Zealand part in the Italian campaign of the Second World War, historian Matthew Wright argues that Cassino was not the defeat it is often claimed to be. Adverse weather, the politics of the Anglo-American alliance, and sheer lack of numbers on the ground made it a difficult fight. Ultimately the question is not whether New Zealand failed - but how they achieved as much as they did under the circumstance.The real strengths of the New Zealand force- mobility and speed - were finally put to use in the last weeks of the war, when the division led the charge that shattered German positions in the Lombardy plain. In a three week blitzkrieg the New Zealanders broke the German line and surged into Trieste, ending the campaign with a flourish - and the first confrontation of the Cold War.