This is an examination of major American and Anglo-American war plans. Rather than discuss the history of planning, Ross considers the execution of the plans, compares the execution with the expectations of the planners and attempts to explain the differences. For example, the planners believed that the invasion of Italy (Operation Avalanche) would lead to the rapid conquest of the peninsula. Instead, the Allies became involved in a long, difficult and costly compaign because they misjudged the German response to the Salerno landings.