First published in 1980. The author, Brian Harpur, was an officer in the 78th Division, 8th Army. I didn't want to put the book down it was so well written. The insight and humour recounts histhe author's experience, from joining the army in 1939 as a Private, until the conclusion of the campaign in Italy. He met the then General Alexander in Italy and the meeting raised questions in his mind that eventually led to him writing this book. Some time after WW2 he interviewed Generals Clark and McCreery and included their inputs in the book. I commend this book to anyone with an interest in the history of this time. It tells of what life was like for the infantry - the highs and lows - and deals head-on with how they overcame their problems. An interesting part for me was the note about inspections before the final campaign kicked off. I feel that if there ever were another war many lessons hard-learned then would need to be re-learned but at what cost?