The Allied landings at Anzio, on the Italian coast, six months before the Normandy invasion were intended as an "end run" around the stalemate that had developed in Italy. The planners hoped that the Allied invasion would surprise the Germans and threaten their defensive line in southern Europe. But the invasion stalled a few miles inland and the Allies faced a five-month bloody fight. In the end, American and British troops accomplished one of the great defensive stands of all time, turning defeat into victory.

Using previously unpublished archival material, including memoirs from American, British, and German veterans, award-winning historian Flint Whitlock reveals the entire allied and German campaign, never forgetting the experiences of the soldiers in muddy, freezing, water-filled foxholes, struggling to hold off endless waves of infantry assaults, aerial bombardments, and artillery barrages.

Desperate Valour is the first comprehensive account of the unrelenting slugfest at Anzio and a stirring chronicle of courage beyond measure.