Very interesting.

A very good insight to a fruitless battle, with huge loss on both side. Great breaking in places at the senseless loss of lives.

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2 people found this helpful

Sadly disappointing

A very good account of the battle but let down by too many factors. The book has been very abridged to the point where the flow gets lost and the story appears superficial. There are strange sound effects and sci fi type music which add nothing and are very off putting. The references to unit designations are hopelessly wrong such as the Sussex Batallion rather than the 1st Bn The Royal Sussex Regiment for example. Finally the excellent personal accounts are let down by awful fake accents performed by someone with a very strong accent themselves, thus making them all sound the same. Such a disappointment for what is actually a very good account. With hindsight I'd stick to the book.

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2 people found this helpful

Disappointed.

A bit disappointed with this audiobook. I bought it as my late uncle was actually there. The music that was offputting as was the accents used for eyewitness accounts.

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1 person found this helpful

too abridged and oddly produced...

I don't know how comprehensive the unabridged book was, but this felt like a very superficial treatment of the subject. The production was weird too - almost random music and sound effects passages which for me didn't sit with the overall content.

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2 people found this helpful

Abridged, not sure that well.

I listened to this as one of my Audible books free with Prime. I had previously purchased the paperback (2004 edition). This is not a word for word reading of the book. Based on a comparison of the last chapter, I'd estimate that at about 25% of the written text is omitted from the audiobook. I'm not convinced that the parts omitted are less important than the parts included.

As far as the book itself is concerned, it's a rather dry account of the Cassino campaign. Great if you're really into the battle logistics but the human aspect is less well dealt with. Nevertheless, essential if you want to know what the Italian campaign was like and how futile some of the military decisions were.

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superb

it was absolutely wonderful. never wanted it to end. I would highly recommend this is worth a listen.

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Very good

Read before I went, very good. Easier to understand with maps of the battles as you listen, almost essential.

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