Monte Cassino

Sven and his fellow soldiers survive the Eastern Front. They reach Italy and serve in the 27th Regiment at Monte Cassino. Allied shells pound the abbey, built to withstand attack. The men struggle to stay alive. Hitler orders German troops to hold every patch of ground. They must do so, whatever the cost. A beach landing brings troops with long service into battle. Scared new recruits join the fight too.

Sven Hassel’s historical war novel takes a harsh view of war. Its men face both orders and the need to live. This pocket edition forms part of the Armada SMART series. Radu Pontbriant translated the book from English.

Hassel was born in Fredensborg, Denmark, in 1917. His birth name was Børge Willy Redsted Pedersen. He moved to Germany in 1937 to join the army. He fought on several fronts and rose to lieutenant. In Berlin in 1945, he gave himself up to Soviet troops. He then spent several years in prison camps. While a prisoner, he began his first novel, Legiunea blestematilor. It came out in 1953. Hassel died in 2012.