Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Road to Cisterna: Darby's Rangers and Their Most Consequential Battle in World War II

The Road to Cisterna: Darby's Rangers and Their Most Consequential Battle in World War II

Williams, David Lyle

Hardcover

Armed ForcesWorld War II

Publisher Price: $44.95

ISBN10: 0807185035
ISBN13: 9780807185032
Publisher: LSU Press
Published: Sep 26 2025
Pages: 400
Weight: 1.54
Height: 1.24 Width: 6.33 Depth: 9.25
Language: English

Finalist for the Norwich University William E. Colby Military Writers award

The Road to Cisterna is the story of Darby's Rangers, an elite American army unit in World War II, selected for toughness and specially trained in beach landings and lightning raids deep behind enemy lines. Commanded by Colonel William Orlando Darby, the 1st Ranger Battalion spearheaded landings in North Africa and helped defeat German general Erwin Rommel--the Desert Fox--in Tunisia. Its success inspired the creation of two more battalions led by Darby in the invasions of Sicily and the Italian mainland. The Rangers' record of victories ended in central Italy at the Battle of Cisterna, where a force of almost sixty thousand Germans wiped them out. The German forces captured all but a few of the survivors, but many Rangers made daring escapes from prisoner-of-war camps. Of the Rangers who fought that battle, forty-six tell their stories in this book.

David Lyle Williams spent over two decades collecting the memories of Darby Rangers, enabling him to compile an unprecedentedly thorough history of the unit. Unlike previous accounts, more than 160 Rangers speak here in their own words and voices, giving an intimate picture of their combat experiences, enabling the reader to know them as individuals.

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