# Review: THE LIRI VALLEY



## portcullisguy (11 Jan 2004)

I got this book as a gift for Christmas, and finished it in about a week -- I was that riveted!

THE LIRI VALLEY: CANADA‘S WORLD WAR II BREAKTHROUGH TO ROME was written by Canadian military historian, Mark Zuehlke.  Zuehlke wrote two other books on the Italian campaign, ORTONA: CANADA‘S EPIC WORLD WAR II BATTLE, and THE GOTHIC LINE: CANADA‘S MONTH OF **** IN WORLD WAR II ITALY.

I haven‘t read the other two, but THE LIRI VALLEY was of particular interest to me as the battle represents one of my regiment‘s many WWII battle honours (as it does for many Canadian units).

Picking up shortly after Ortona, the book follows the Canadians in Italy as they are about to descend on the Liri Valley and the smashing penetration and breakout from the Hitler Line, anchored by Monte Cassino on one side (where it joined the Gustav Line) and Gaeta on the other.

This was the first time in the history that an all-Canadian Corps, under Canadian command, took a lead role in breaching a major German defensive line.  Many of the units that made up the I Canadian Corps still exist today, and are highly honoured regiments: RCR, Hasty P‘s, 48th Highlanders, PPCLI, Seaforth Highlanders, Loyal Edmonton Regt, Van Doos, Lord Strathcona‘s Horse, GGHG... all played important roles and some, such as the GGHG, earned their baptism by fire, fighting for the first time in their histories as entire regiments.

The bravery of the soldiers and officer on the ground is highlighted in the stories, although an important theme is the Canadian leadership‘s first baby steps leading a Corps under command of the British Eighth Army.

The Italian campaign is often ignored by historians.  It was relatively small (compared to the Eastern Front with it huge battles, such as the 5 million men at Kursk), and represented a marginal strategic goal of the allies (Italy at the beginning still had its own army, and most of the Germans were still deployed elsewhere on more important fronts).  But the necessity of Italy became apparent when plans were first laid for Operation Overlord, and the Allies needed to put the Germans on the run in the south, to draw resources away from a 1944 Axis that was essentially at the peak of it‘s strength (save for their recent removal from North Africa).

Zuehlke has a solid understanding of the campaign, and has done fantastic research.  Many living veterans of the campaign are interviewed, including Strome Galloway, an eminent Canadian soldier who was, for a time, a Major in the RCR, but denied the CO‘s chair because of an ingrained bias against reservists.

I highly recommend this book, in particular if your regiment was in the 1 CID during the war, and won some of its honours on Italian soil.  It is an interesting insight to regimental history, and a testament to Canadian valour and tactical problem solving.


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## Michael Dorosh (11 Jan 2004)

I‘ll copy my review of this book at Amazon, then the author‘s response, then my own.  Zuehlke‘s research was not "fantastic"; it was mainly a precis of what is already available out there via the official history.  How many German sources were consulted?  I see no evidence of any.  As story telling, this is a good book and may indeed even be "rivetting" but from the viewpoint of professional history, it falls short.  I suspect that won‘t bother most who want to buy it, but for those who do look for solid sources and original research, this book adds little new to the historical understanding of this campaign.  In my opinion.



> Not knowing the major details of this book - but suspecting there is decent coverage in Dancocks‘ D-DAY DODGERS or even Nicholson‘s official history - I am very disappointed by the surface level errors, which make one wonder how well the book was actually researched. The first error is in the second sentence of the main text - Patton‘s 7th Army is misidentified as the 5th Army - and things go downhill from there. The .303 Vickers gun is called a .50 calibre on p. 53, the Perth Regiment is described as a Scottish Regiment with a St. Andrews Cross on their badge (in fact, their postwar cap badge did have this cross - the war time badge most certainly did not), and the photo of a brass and reed band is labelled as the RCR pipes and drums (which did not exist at this time).
> If Zuehlke can‘t get the little details right, how can we trust him on the weightier stuff?
> 
> Sadly lacking a decent proofreading by someone in the know. One hopes his third book of the planned trilogy will benefit from better research - or at least proofreading.





> Please note that I‘ve only filled in the book rating because it‘s required to post this message. [An author shouldn‘t rate his own book.] As an author, I generally don‘t respond to reviews. Michael Dorosh‘s review, however, requires a respons--notably because it is, as his title infers, "riddled with stupid errors." I do not, for example, mis-identify "Patton‘s 7th Army as the 5th." Neither Patton nor the 7th saw action in Italy proper. They left that theatre after Sicily, as any military historian worth his salt would know. The Perth Regiment‘s badge was as described during World War II, a fact thoroughly noted by Brigadier George Kitching at the time under whom the regiment served. The RCR‘s pipe and drum band is described in detail in the regiment‘s war diaries for 1944. In fact the band‘s instruments were smuggled to Italy against orders by the band members, a fact recorded at the time by the regiment‘s long-standing 2 i/c Major Strome Galloway. It would behoove Dorosh to get his own facts correct before he starts slinging mud.





> RESPONSE TO ZUEHLKE 25 Feb 2002 - reread your book; you describe the invasion of Sicily in sentence one, and then mention the 5th Army, which did not see action there. "On July 10, 1943, some 26,000 Canadians landed on the beaches at Pachino, the southernmost point of Sicily. The Canadians were part of a massive invasion force mounted by two armies - the United States Fifth Army..." This is clearly an error. The RCR had a bugle and drum band; I have been a piper in a highland regiment for 15 years and can tell you difference between a bugle and a bagpipe. Your photo shows no bagpipes, and you may want to reread the RCR history; my reading shows no mention of bagpipes there, either. Your own text mentions that the "pipe and drum band" (sic) played in Rome with "the drum major, thirteen buglers, and nine drummers - dressed in...accoutrements of an infantry bugle corps..."(p. 421) If they had a pipe band, why did they not parade any pipers that day? The answer is clear, they did not exist and this is one more of the details you got wrong.
> 
> Your book is "history lite", which I have no qualms with. I like that more people are getting interested in history. There were many good quotes by veterans, but you soften the impact by apologizing for using this approach in the preface. ...


I may have been a bit harsh, but two other reviews there had comments which agreed with mine.  Given Zuehlke‘s poor grasp of very basic military "stuff", I would be loathe to trust him on the deeper questions.

portcullisguy - your review seems to revolve mainly on how the stories are told rather than the substance.  Was there really anything in this book that you feel hasn‘t been covered equally well in, say, Dancocks D-DAY DODGERS or the various regimental histories?  Canadian historians have a shocking tendency to completely ignore the German side of things, for example.  Would have loved to see an analysis from both sides of the campaign.


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## Gunner (11 Jan 2004)

A couple of recommendations for those interested in the Italian Campaign.  

A good read is Canadians and the Italian Campaign by Bill McAndrew  Italian Campaign 

I would also recommend getting ahold of a copy of the interview with MGen Hoffmeister (CO Seaforths, CG 2 Bde, CG 5 Armd Division) on the Italian Campaign.  If I remember correctly the interview was conducted by Bill McAndrew and Brereton Greehous.  I have a copy (~100 pages) if anyone is interested.

In addition, I found this website to be of particular use as I was looking for a copy to the Italian Campaign.  I‘m not sure if it has been previously mentioned.   Canada At War


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## Jason Jarvis (11 Jan 2004)

> Zuehlke‘s research was not "fantastic"; it was mainly a precis of what is already available out there via the official history. How many German sources were consulted? I see no evidence of any. As story telling, this is a good book and may indeed even be "rivetting" but from the viewpoint of professional history, it falls short.


I received and read Ortona over Christmas, and am in the middle of writing a review of the work for this section. I‘ve been hampered by my poor overall knowledge of the Italian campaign, especially as I haven‘t read Dancocks and read both Galloway and Mowat about 15 years ago.

But I have to agree with Michael, a hard academic history Ortona is not -- it‘s more like a popular history wrapped in an academic bookcover. That said, I thought it was written very well, if not well-written (the difference being style over substance). Where I thought the book shone though was in its moving descriptions of the battle itself: the crossing of the Moro and capture of Stirlin Castle, the advance to the Gully and the fight to clear Casa Berardi, not to mention the fighting by the Loyal Eddies and Seaforths inside Ortona itself.

North America has largely forgotten about how many men and women modern warfare consumes -- more Canadians were killed fighting for Ortona in the space of a month than all Coalition soldiers in Iraq in the last ten months!

While Zeuhlke may not apply the most rigourous historiograhical standards to his work, I feel his ability to portray the strain and emotion of battle itself to be the most redeeming quality of his work. I‘m looking forward to reading the other two, especially now that I‘ve heard what other people -- and who‘s opinions I respect -- have said about his work.


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## muskrat89 (11 Jan 2004)

Portcullisguy - Apparently you are not qualified enough to form an opinion     

It‘s nice to have a review that will apply to the unwashed masses. Thanks.


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## Danjanou (12 Jan 2004)

Good review portcullisguy and a good little debate forming here which is what we want to see. I haven‘t had the chance to read this one yet, but may pick it up, so I can‘t comment as Michael has re the accuracy etc.

Irregardless a review here is bascially an opinion along the lines of "Here‘s something I read you may find it interesting" or "I just finished this and the writer‘s out to lunch because...." 

Either or provides a service to our colleagues on the site.


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## Michael Dorosh (12 Jan 2004)

> Irregardless a review here is bascially an opinion along the lines of "Here‘s something I read you may find it interesting" or "I just finished this and the writer‘s out to lunch because...."


And - BONUS - we got both reactions in the same thread.  Sounds like the basis for an interesting discussion.  I‘d like to see portcullisguy elaborate.  I agree with Jason and portcullisguy both that the book is readable and the prose is well done.

I am posting a warning to anyone taking a deeper interest - I am afraid that won‘t be muskrat - that the book probably does not stand alone on its own merits given the author‘s poor grasp of details (and, I suspect, lack of personal military experience) and one-sided view of the campaign.


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## muskrat89 (12 Jan 2004)

> I am afraid that won‘t be muskrat


Right you are, Michael!    
If anyone can include themselves in the unwashed masses, it is me....


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## portcullisguy (19 Jan 2004)

One of the main reasons I wrote the review was because I had just finished the book, and enjoyed it thoroughly, and I thought this section could use another recent book review.

Yes, the book is riddled with factual errors, in particular, in the reference section, where equipment and weapons are misdescribed, and ranks are missing and/or misleadingly included ("Regimental Sergeant Major" we all know is an appointment, not a rank, for example).

Being unaware of many other books on the Italian campaign, I reiterate my recommendation of the book, for better or for worse.

I realize it was a stretch to describe the author as a "military historian" - his credentials do not support this, and he appears to simply be a writer with an interest in Canadian military history, rather than a student and scholar of history.

I stand by my statement that his research was fantastic.  Even Antony Beevor, who wrote acclaimed books on Stalingrad, and the Fall of Berlin, did not interview many living survivors from those events, and was restricted to official and non-official records for his research (although he did immeasurably more such research, and to be fair, there was far more to look at for those campaigns, then for the tiny Italian one).

Muskrat may doubt my qualifications to "form an opinion", however, I would insist that anyone who reads a book form an opinion on it, there being little point to reading it otherwise.

No, the book is not academic, and yes it does appear to appeal to the "unwashed masses" -- but in Canada, if you‘re selling books, you would probably want to target the largest audience in an already small market.

I will definitely pick up D-Day Dodgers, if I come across it, but my interest in WWII history, and the Italian campaign in particular, is merely recreational.

In short - if you have read Liri Valley and hated it, good for you!  You shouldn‘t accept everything that‘s printed as gospel anyway.  If you read it and liked it, equally good for you, you supported a Canadian author and probably learned something anyway about a lesser known WWII theatre.  If you haven‘t read it yet, pick it up anyway, and give it a read.


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## Michael Dorosh (19 Jan 2004)

portcullisguy - thanks for posting again - and standing behind your review!  I think both your posts in this thread are well written, and your point of view is very clear.  Recreational reading is great too.  I am reading Stephen Ambrose‘s THE WILD BLUE right now, about B-24 crews.  The book has been roasted by those in the know, but since I know beans about B-24s, I am enjoying it immensely.

D-DAY DODGERS - should you find it (it should be in most libraries) is very recreational reading and I know you will enjoy it.  Lots of 48th stories in there, too!

Great point about Beevor and STALINGRAD too.


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## muskrat89 (19 Jan 2004)

portcullisguy - read my posts - I was defending your review. I felt that Michael rates it on a different scale than the average reader, because his knowledge and experience is much broader than ours. I know it‘s unlike me, but I was being a little sarcastic    

Dorosh - I actually found your critiques interesting, also


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