Monte Cassino: The Story of the Hardest-Fought Battle of World War Two cover art

Monte Cassino: The Story of the Hardest-Fought Battle of World War Two

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Monte Cassino: The Story of the Hardest-Fought Battle of World War Two

By: Matthew Parker
Narrated by: Tim Pigott-Smith, Gareth Armstrong
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About this listen

The Battle for Monte Cassino, which blocked the Allies' road to Rome in early 1944, was fought over terrible terrain and in appalling conditions, and saw human sacrifice and privation almost beyond imagination. Based on the first-hand accounts of veterans from around the world, Matthew Parker has recreated this epic battle from the experiences of the men who fought it.

©2003 Matthew Parker (P)2004 Headline Audiobooks Military War

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

Very interesting.

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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.

Sadly disappointing

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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.

Disappointed.

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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.

too abridged and oddly produced...

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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.

Abridged, not sure that well.

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

superb

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

Very good

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