In Sideshow War: The Italian Campaign, 1943-1945, George F. Botjer examines the economic, political, and cultural factors that influenced the unfolding of the fight for the Italian peninsula. He also provides new, unpublished documentation highlighting Axis defensive operations in Sicily, their takeover of Italy, and the internment of the Italian army along with new data on economic conditions in German-occupied northern Italy and the extent to which Germany exploited the industries of that region. Allied leaders, who never fully committed to liberating Italy as a whole, constantly debated the various possible terminal points: Sicily, Naples, and Rome. An awareness that the mountainous terrain strongly favored the defender resulted in this indecision. Incorporating the German, Allied, and Italian points of view, this study presents a more comprehensive overview of this phase of the war than any previous book.