You won't find a detailed day by day description of Anzio here, but what you will find, in this novel, is an amazing evocation of war, of feelings, of death and survival, of what it is really like to be a soldier in a bloody, hard-fought battle. By the author of the 'Nab End' autobiographies, this novel draws on his experiences as a soldier in Italy in 1944, but tries to show that in war, death and brutality is the winner, not ideals. A remarkable book, first published in 1970 but re-published in paperback in 2004, I couldn't put it down. Bears comparison with 'All Quiet on the Western Front' as a great anti-war novel.