Blumenson shows leadership's role in a disasterous World War II battle on theItalian peninsula, documenting how the Rapido tragedy reveals the high-pricedlessons of war. 11 photos. 2 maps. Index.

In southern Italy in January 1944, American forces at the base of the Monte Cassino height tried to cross the Rapido River and registered one of the most bitter failures of World War II. Conceived by General Mark Clark to help the Allied landings at Anzio, the attack at the river was part of a coordinated effort to capture Rome. Bloody River, first published in 1970, presents a detailed and impartial examination of this still controversial disaster. Unlike other accounts, Blumenson's focuses on the event itself, its circumstances and the people directly involved. Questioning why the attack failed, Blumenson finds the answers in the relationship among Clark, Walker and Major General Geoffrey Keyes, the corps commander in the middle.