The Guardian

It was October, 1944, and the German forces in Italy were in desperate straits. A beleaguered German Grenadier battalion was committed to defending at all costs the seemingly impregnable Monte Colle. It was as fine a battalion as any in military history, and the brilliant Lieutenant-Colonel von List, holder of the Knight's Cross with Oakleaf, Swords, and Diamonds, was transferred from the Russian fron to command it in its most crucial hour. Already doubts about their invincibility were beginning to assail these soldiers of Hitler and the Third Reich. Arrayed against them was the resolute British Brigade of Guards biding its time as the Allies built up gigantic stocks of ammunition and aircraft. The Luftwaffe had vanished, and the Germans' resources were strained as the officers, N.C.O.'s, and men of the battalion turned to their courageous Guardian for the leadership they hoped might be their salvation from the burgeoning inevitability of their fate. Sacha Carnegie, author of several books of fiction and nonfiction, fought with the Scots Guards in the Italian campaign. The surrender of a German officer inspired him to probe the experience of a man highly decorated for bravery who is driven to this ultimate humiliation. His tale of the tough, brave and very human hero in the Gotterdammerung of the Nazi regime is an epic personal drama which proves its author to be a story-teller in the finest tradition. Sacha Carnegie was born in Edinburgh, studied at Eton, and lives in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where he devotes himself to writing and farming.