The liberator
Subtitle: one World War II soldier's 500-day odyssey from the beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau
By: Alex Kershaw
Publisher: Hutchinson
Published: 2012
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 433
ISBN-13: 9780091943943; 9781446492673
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945; Campaigns; Regimental histories; Military campaigns; United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 157th; United States
Description: On 10 July 1943, Felix Sparks arrived with the Allied forces in Italy, a captain in the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Division - nicknamed the Thunderbirds. Just twenty-five years old, Sparks soon proved a leader of immense fortitude and stamina, participating in four amphibious invasions and leading his men through the mountains of Italy and France before enduring intense winter combat against the diehard SS on the Fatherland's borders. Sparks' entire company had been sacrificed to save the Allied beach-head at Anzio and, tragically, his rebuilt battalion soon found themselves surrounded and overcome in the dark forests of the Vosges. Miraculously, despite numerous brushes with death, Sparks survived the long bloody march across Europe and in the last days of the Third Reich was selected to lead a final charge to Bavaria to hunt down Adolf Hitler. But what Sparks and his men would find as they finally reached the gates of Dachau, Hitler's first and most notorious concentration camp, would be a horror greater than any they had so far experienced. With victory within his grasp, Sparks had to confront the ultimate test of his humanity: after all he had faced, could he resist the urge to wreak vengeance on the men who had caused such untold suffering and misery?
Notes: "Published by arrangement with Crown Publishers ... division of Random House, Inc., USA"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 363-418) and index.
Table of contents: title: Prologue: The graves; title: Part one: The Dust Bowl (1. The West ; 2. Off to war); title: Part two: Italy (3. Sicily ; 4. The race for Messina ; 5. Mountain country); title: Part three: Anzio (6. Danger ahead ; 7. Hell broke loose ; 8. A blood-dimmed tide ; 9. The battle of the caves ; 10. Crossing the line ; 11. The bitch-head ; 12. The breakout ; 13. Rome); title: Part four: France (14. Day 401 ; 15. The champagne campaign ; 16. The Vosges); title: Part five: Germany (17. Black December ; 18. The breaking point ; 19. Defeat ; 20. The river ; 21. The Siegfried Line ; 22. Cassino on the main ; 23. Downfall); title: Part six: The heart of darkness (24. The day of the Americans ; 25. The hounds of hell ; 26. The coal yard ; 27. The Linden incident ; 28. The long day closes); title: Part seven: Last battles (29. The last days ; 30. Victory in Europe ; 31. Peace breaks out ; 32. The last battle).