Escape in Italy; The Narrative of Lieutenant William L. Newnan

During the bloody fighting of the Second World War the hills, river valleys and hellish attrition of the Italian campaign are often overlooked as a sideshow. However some of the toughest fighting and heroic actions of the entire period took place in the beautiful but deadly Italian countryside; one such tale is that of Lt. Newnan. Then as now, the Army Rangers get the toughest assignments, Lt. Newnan and his men were tasked with attacking Cisterna during the Anzio campaign. The elite, but lightly armed, Rangers were ambushed by German Panzer forces, outnumbered and outgunned many Rangers were captured including the author. Not one to be so easily defeated Lt. Newnan began an epic journey of escape and evasion in Nazi infested Italy which he recounts in this vivid and colorful memoir.