{"product_id":"all-roads-lead-to-rome-searching-for-the-end-of-my-fathers-war-hardback-9781640126275","title":"All Roads Lead to Rome; Searching for the End of My Father's War (Hardback) 9781640126275","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eAll Roads Lead to Rome\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eSearching for the End of My Father's War\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eBill Thorness (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781640126275\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 1 December 2024\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e280 pages, 15 photographs, 2 maps\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 3.1 cm, 0.57 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\"Retracing his father's steps, Thorness admirably chronicles his father's service while relating his own march through Italy over 60 years later, gaining insight into both his father and himself.\"-Philip Zozzaro, \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\"Thorness's descriptions of the long-forgotten battles involved are vivid and his depictions of the Italian landscape 70 years later serve as reminders of the war which changed so many families and lives. Readers who had relatives affected by the conflict will find this tale of a son seeking to understand his father a compelling journey into the past.\"-J. Kemper Campbell, \u003ci\u003eLincoln Journal Star\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e“\u003ci\u003eAll Roads Lead to Rome\u003c\/i\u003e starts as a journey of discovery and becomes one of self-discovery. A masterful accomplishment.”-Steve Olson, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Apocalypse Factory: Plutonium and the Making of the Atomic Age\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e“A moving and compelling story about the enduring power of the past. Bill Thorness juxtaposes two Italian journeys-his father’s during the Anzio campaign of World War II and his own retracing of it-to find a parent whose damaged leg disguised deeper wounds. He discovers a war’s lasting consequences.”-Richard White, Margaret Byrne Professor of American History emeritus, Stanford University, and author of \u003ci\u003eWho Killed Jane Stanford?\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e“\u003ci\u003eAll Roads Lead to Rome\u003c\/i\u003e is a deftly woven history of one man’s attempt to understand his father’s taciturn and damaged life by hiking the route his father’s army commando unit took as it fought its way north from the Anzio beaches to liberate Rome from the Nazis in World War II. A warm memoir and a historical resource, \u003ci\u003eAll Roads Lead to Rome\u003c\/i\u003e stands as a heartfelt attempt to bridge a generation gap and probe the brutal and fiercely debilitating impact of war.”-Kit Bakke, author of \u003ci\u003eProtest on Trial\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMiss Alcott’s E-mail\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e“A touching and outstanding story, \u003ci\u003eAll Roads Lead to Rome\u003c\/i\u003e is Bill Thorness’s journey to understanding his father, which takes us from the farmland of North Dakota to the battlefields of World War II Italy.”-Bill Woon, past executive director of the First Special Service Force Association and son of Force veteran Dave Woon, 2nd Company, 2nd Regiment\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e“An expansive journey through World War II Italy, \u003ci\u003eAll Roads Lead to Rome\u003c\/i\u003e is a poignant, picturesque memoir of redemption and truth between father and son, past and present.”-Alicia DeFonzo, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Time Left between Us\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e“Any hope that humanity will more quickly move beyond war as a method of conflict resolution will likely come as a result of leaders who, whether personally or peripherally, finally acknowledge and speak to the damaging ramifications of war on present and future generations. Books such as \u003ci\u003eAll Roads Lead to Rome\u003c\/i\u003e are vital for what they can add to this awareness, and it is one of the best books I have read so far on the cross-generational impact of military service, particularly combat.”-Tracy Crow, coeditor of \u003ci\u003eIt’s My Country Too: Women’s Military Stories from the American Revolution to Afghanistan\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eWhat happens when a seasoned journalist and travel writer takes on his most challenging assignment yet-crossing not just continents but also history-by retracing his father’s steps on the battlefields of Italy in World War II?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e When a slim packet of his father’s letters came to light after his mother’s death, Bill Thorness began a quest to rediscover his father. Thorness traveled to the World War II battlefields where America’s first team of commandos fought. The youngest son of one of those commandos, Thorness gained a sense of the horror his father had kept from his family while standing on the mountain where the First Special Service Force fought. Then, standing on a bridge in Rome, he reflected on the loss his father must have felt in not making it to the end of the campaign to liberate the Eternal City.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eAll Roads Lead to Rome\u003c\/i\u003e Thorness considers his father’s decisive moments in battle and beyond, and how he soldiered on as a disabled veteran through his life, raising a family and succumbing to an early death. Alternating between reimagined battle scenes and present-day travels, Thorness explores World War II and family history, the value and limits of memory, the attitudes of war, and our society’s inadequate understanding and support of combat veterans, who may return with physical and emotional scars that change them deeply.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Thorness steps into his father’s shoes to revisit his story and finish that walk into Rome, weaving an account that is part travelogue, part history, and part memoir about the ravages of war.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eList of Illustrations\u003cbr\u003e Part 1: Difensa \u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2009 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Bringing My Father into Focus \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1944 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Scaling a Mountain \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2009 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: An Initial Exploration \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2009 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Replowing Dakota Soil \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1944 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Talking la Difensa  \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e Part 2: From Helena to the Winter Line \u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2010 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: The Language of a Quest \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1942 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Becoming a Solider \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1943 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Training the Braves \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Returning to the Battlefield \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1943 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Sailing to Naples \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Meeting the Force Family \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1943 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Boots on Italian Soil \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Revisiting Difensa \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1943 –\u003cbr\u003e War: From Winter Line to Anzio \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e Part 3: Anzio \u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Memorials to Begin the Trek \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1943 –\u003cbr\u003e War: The D-Day Diversion \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: In the Command Caves \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1944 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Landing at Anzio \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Finding Foce Verde \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Hot Feet on the Road \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1944 –\u003cbr\u003e War: The Force Joins the Fight \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Cisterna’\u003cbr\u003es Buzzing Roads \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: History is What You See \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1944 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Settling in at the Front \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Conjuring up the “\u003cbr\u003eBilliard Table”\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1944 –\u003cbr\u003e War: The Black Devils Raid at Night \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Edging into the Hills \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Dog Tired at the Top of the Town \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1944 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Off the Beachhead \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: The Suffering of Cori \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Last Legs to Artena \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1944 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Making a Mountain Fortress \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Castle Graffiti \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1944 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Cut Down in Colleferro \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Devastation of Mountain Villages \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1944 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Forces at Rome’\u003cbr\u003es Gates \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Walking the Ancient Gates \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e Part 4: Postwar \u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1944 –\u003cbr\u003e War: Making the White Sheets \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1944 –\u003cbr\u003e Family: A Soldier’\u003cbr\u003es Rough Return \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2011 –\u003cbr\u003e Journey: Commemoration \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e Author's Note\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Potomac Books","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52633547669784,"sku":"9781640126275","price":22.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/all-roads-lead-to-rome-searching-for-the-end-of-my-fathers-war-hardback-9781640126275","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}