HITLER'S RAID TO SAVE MUSSOLINI: The Most Infamous Commando Operation of
World War II
By Greg Annussek
Da Capo (2005)
The rescue of Benito Mussolini from a mountain-top in the Appenines shocked a war-weary world and became one of the most famous commando operations of the 20th Century. But the rescue, led by Captain Otto Skorzeny, is more than just a legendary tale in the annals of special operations. It was also the dramatic culmination of the bizarre, tragic-comic relationship between Hitler and Mussolini—a relationship that spanned over 10 years and had disastrous consequences for Europe. FREEING MUSSOLINI is a historical narrative with the pace of a suspense novel. The six-week effort by the Germans to find and rescue Mussolini – an undertaking that involved both intelligence work and a daring commando-style raid via gliders – was a cliff-hanger in the most literal sense. Contrary to German propaganda at the time, the mission was anything but a smooth operation. It was a seat-of-the-pants affair complicated by false leads, intrigues, near misses, Allied bombings, and various misadventures. Time was perhaps the greatest obstacle of all to German success, since the Duce might have been delivered to the Allies at any time. The book also explains how Hitler and the new Italian government (sans Mussolini) made a mutual show of friendship during the summer of 1943 while privately scheming to undermine each other by means of elaborate and dangerous games of deception. FREEING MUSSOLINI, which will run 100,000 to 125,000 words in length, is a real-life, action-oriented spy story with historical depth—something of a cross between, say, Tom Clancy and William L. Shirer. There are no recent books in English devoted to the Mussolini rescue operation.
Over the last several years World War II has been a hot subject. Moviegoers flocked to Hollywood blockbusters such as Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. Books on the subject seem to be just as popular, including such works as Band of Brothers, The Greatest Generation, Wild Blue, and Stalingrad. On TV, the History Channel devotes much of its programming to World War II-related subjects, including extensive coverage of the German war machine. While special operations have always been a favorite theme of books and movies, they have taken on new importance in light of the missions recently carried out by U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other parts of the world.
Greg Annussek worked for several years as a project editor at a book packager before becoming a freelance writer in 1998. Over the years, he has worked as a writer or an editor on almost 20 books, including the prestigious Johns Hopkins Family Health Book, has published several consumer health books and written extensively about the history of medicine. In 2000, he received a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission to produce a documentary film, "Dusk at the Drive-In", demonstrating how the drive-in acted as a "barometer" of 20th century American culture. Greg received a B.A. in English in 1990 from NYU, where he also received training in journalism (on both the undergraduate and graduate levels). A longtime student of history, he has spent the last year researching the Mussolini rescue operation, the demise of the Rome-Berlin alliance, and the Hitler-Mussolini relationship.
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