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Italy's Sorrow: A Year of War, 1944-1945
During the Second World War, the campaign in Italy was the most destructive fought in Europe -- a long, bitter and highly attritional conflict that raged up the country's mountainous leg. For frontline troops, casualty rates at Cassino and along the notorious Gothic Line were as high as they had been on the Western Front in the First World War. There were further similarities too: blasted landscapes, rain and mud, and months on end with the front line barely moving.
And while the Allies and Germans were fighting it out through the mountains, the Italians were engaging in bitter battles too. Partisans were carrying out a crippling resistance campaign against the German troops but also battling the Fascists forces as well in what soon became a bloody civil war. Around them, innocent civilians tried to live through the carnage, terror and anarchy, while in the wake of the Allied advance, horrific numbers of impoverished and starving people were left to pick their way through the ruins of their homes and country. In the German-occupied north, there were more than 700 civilian massacres by German and Fascist troops in retaliation for Partisan activities, while in the south, many found themselves forced into making terrible and heart-rending decisions in order to survive.
Although known as a land of beauty and for the richness of its culture, Italy's suffering in 1944-1945 is now largely forgotten. This is the first account of the conflict there to tell the story from all sides and to include the experiences of soldiers and civilians alike. Offering extensive original research, it weaves together the drama and tragedy of that terrible year, including new perspectives and material on some of the most debated episodes to have emerged from the Second World War.
And while the Allies and Germans were fighting it out through the mountains, the Italians were engaging in bitter battles too. Partisans were carrying out a crippling resistance campaign against the German troops but also battling the Fascists forces as well in what soon became a bloody civil war. Around them, innocent civilians tried to live through the carnage, terror and anarchy, while in the wake of the Allied advance, horrific numbers of impoverished and starving people were left to pick their way through the ruins of their homes and country. In the German-occupied north, there were more than 700 civilian massacres by German and Fascist troops in retaliation for Partisan activities, while in the south, many found themselves forced into making terrible and heart-rending decisions in order to survive.
Although known as a land of beauty and for the richness of its culture, Italy's suffering in 1944-1945 is now largely forgotten. This is the first account of the conflict there to tell the story from all sides and to include the experiences of soldiers and civilians alike. Offering extensive original research, it weaves together the drama and tragedy of that terrible year, including new perspectives and material on some of the most debated episodes to have emerged from the Second World War.
606 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
108 people are currently reading
811 people want to read
About the author
James Holland
67 books1,025 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
James Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and studied history at Durham University. He has worked for several London publishing houses and has also written for a number of national newspapers and magazines. Married with a son, he lives near Salisbury.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
James Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and studied history at Durham University. He has worked for several London publishing houses and has also written for a number of national newspapers and magazines. Married with a son, he lives near Salisbury.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
March 26, 2020
James Holland's narrative of the final year of the war in Italy, from the start out Operation Diadem, the fourth battle of Cassino, through to the end of the war, concentrates on the difficulties of command and the suffering of the Italian civilian population.
The difficulties of attack and defence during the slow German withdrawal up the Italian peninsula and the command issues within the Allied camp, results of abrasive personalities and the political difficulties of operating in a strategic cul-de-sac (it's hard to maintain offensive operations when a third of your forces are hauled away for a Riviera holiday) are all covered within the broad framework.
Where the narrative really hits home is in the story of the civilians caught up in the fighting. The Italian campaign, and what I guess amounts in theory, if not in fact, was the Italian Civil War, saw an amazing amount of indifference on the Allied side, from any lack of forethought on what to do with the liberated areas to the condoning of the excesses of French Moroccan troops.
The Germans never really trusted their Italian "allies" after the 1943 armistice and subsequent short lived resistance thereafter (casualties in the Italian defence of Kefalonia and the subsequent massacres of PoW's exceeded those inflicted on Poles by the Soviets at Katyn) and the level of partisan warfare unleashed on the Germans meant that, unsurprisingly, a wave of terror was unleashed in the rear areas in the summer and winter of 1944 that was the harshest in Western Europe and in parts seems to have matched the hideous excesses occurring on the Eastern Front. There is an attempt to be even handed in the section covering these atrocities, but it's very hard to excuse the inexcusable. Still it's admirable to make an attempt.
Overall, an excellent overview of a criminally overlooked theatre of war, well written and even handed. A fitting close to the trilogy dealing with the war in the Mediterranean, and not a single mention of Lady Astor (blessedly).
The difficulties of attack and defence during the slow German withdrawal up the Italian peninsula and the command issues within the Allied camp, results of abrasive personalities and the political difficulties of operating in a strategic cul-de-sac (it's hard to maintain offensive operations when a third of your forces are hauled away for a Riviera holiday) are all covered within the broad framework.
Where the narrative really hits home is in the story of the civilians caught up in the fighting. The Italian campaign, and what I guess amounts in theory, if not in fact, was the Italian Civil War, saw an amazing amount of indifference on the Allied side, from any lack of forethought on what to do with the liberated areas to the condoning of the excesses of French Moroccan troops.
The Germans never really trusted their Italian "allies" after the 1943 armistice and subsequent short lived resistance thereafter (casualties in the Italian defence of Kefalonia and the subsequent massacres of PoW's exceeded those inflicted on Poles by the Soviets at Katyn) and the level of partisan warfare unleashed on the Germans meant that, unsurprisingly, a wave of terror was unleashed in the rear areas in the summer and winter of 1944 that was the harshest in Western Europe and in parts seems to have matched the hideous excesses occurring on the Eastern Front. There is an attempt to be even handed in the section covering these atrocities, but it's very hard to excuse the inexcusable. Still it's admirable to make an attempt.
Overall, an excellent overview of a criminally overlooked theatre of war, well written and even handed. A fitting close to the trilogy dealing with the war in the Mediterranean, and not a single mention of Lady Astor (blessedly).
November 11, 2021
Incredibly well-researched. There are accounts from English, American, Polish, German soldiers, Italian fascists and civilians. If it has a stumbling block it's the sheer number of different recurring narratives which makes it difficult to remember the stories. It's the kind of book that makes you realise why we enjoy novels so much. A good novel seeks to arrive at the bigger picture through a single or small number of narrative voices, a device which creates more intimacy and urgency in our reading experience. It works on the less is more principle. I wonder sometimes if non-fiction books couldn't be more creative in their construction.
June 23, 2010
Prior to about two years ago, I was under the impression that the Italian front in World War II was a cakewalk compared to Normandy, North Africa, and the Pacific which we all learn so much about in school - that once Sicily was won, the rest just fell into place. As it turns out, this is not the case. On the contrary, the Italian front was one of the ugliest fronts in the war - ugly for the Allies forces, for Axis forces, and particularly ugly for the citizens themselves, who for years lived under occupation as a result of a war that they had never wanted. James Holland eloquently recounts the Allied forces' slow and bloody struggle up the peninsula, from Anzio to Monte Cassino all the way up the Gothic front to the hills of Bologna, where local starving peasants suffered relentless bombardments from the Americans on the one hand and and, on a few notable occasions, enormous civilian massacres by SS troops on the other.
The linear historical account is interspersed with first-hand accounts from soldiers and officers of all nations (American and British, but also German, Indian, Polish, and Maori) as well as Italian partisans and civilians, which grant a narrative and personal quality.
It's a shame that the Italian front is so commonly ignored in the teaching and study of World War II. James Holland performs an admirable job in remedying this error of omission.
The linear historical account is interspersed with first-hand accounts from soldiers and officers of all nations (American and British, but also German, Indian, Polish, and Maori) as well as Italian partisans and civilians, which grant a narrative and personal quality.
It's a shame that the Italian front is so commonly ignored in the teaching and study of World War II. James Holland performs an admirable job in remedying this error of omission.
June 26, 2017
This is a book that has generally been missing from most popular accounts of World War II - the detailed coverage of the campaign in Italy after the battles of Monte Cassino and Anzio. Overshadowed by D-Day and the campaign in the West, the Italian campaign post June 1944 has been generally neglected - especially as told from the multiple viewpoints in Holland's book.
So, what made this interesting? Many first person accounts from all sides and participants:
US Army
Royal Army
Canadians
Poles
South Africans
New Zealanders
Desert Air Force
Wehrmacht
Luftwaffe
Italian partisans
Italian counter-partisans (fascists)
Civilians
It is the story of the ground and tactical air war with considerable attention spent on the battles once Rome had fallen and before winter set in on the Gothic Line. I found the tales of the partisans and partisan suppression efforts 'new' to me and a welcome rounding out of the military history. There is also a reasonable introduction to Allied Military Occupation and its control over the reconstruction and relief effort.
Well-written, with recurring snippets from the first hand accounts of soldiers who survived large portions of the campaign. Good accounts of generals who get little attention like Oliver Leese.
I found this book to be much better than Holland's history of the siege of Malta and on a par with his story of the Dambuster Squadron.
I had the paperback edition and the maps are hence small and sometimes hard to read as they spanned the book's spine. But, much better maps than in some books.
How could this book have been better?
* First hand accounts from those providing logistics would have been interesting as logistics played a huge role (we do get accounts from an American bridge-building engineer).
* Almost nothing was written about any naval activity
* There could have been more accounts from the German side, especially from some of the infantry divisions - but perhaps these don't exist.
Recommended for readers who enjoy Ambrose, Beevor, or Atkinson and are looking for something on this campaign.
So, what made this interesting? Many first person accounts from all sides and participants:
US Army
Royal Army
Canadians
Poles
South Africans
New Zealanders
Desert Air Force
Wehrmacht
Luftwaffe
Italian partisans
Italian counter-partisans (fascists)
Civilians
It is the story of the ground and tactical air war with considerable attention spent on the battles once Rome had fallen and before winter set in on the Gothic Line. I found the tales of the partisans and partisan suppression efforts 'new' to me and a welcome rounding out of the military history. There is also a reasonable introduction to Allied Military Occupation and its control over the reconstruction and relief effort.
Well-written, with recurring snippets from the first hand accounts of soldiers who survived large portions of the campaign. Good accounts of generals who get little attention like Oliver Leese.
I found this book to be much better than Holland's history of the siege of Malta and on a par with his story of the Dambuster Squadron.
I had the paperback edition and the maps are hence small and sometimes hard to read as they spanned the book's spine. But, much better maps than in some books.
How could this book have been better?
* First hand accounts from those providing logistics would have been interesting as logistics played a huge role (we do get accounts from an American bridge-building engineer).
* Almost nothing was written about any naval activity
* There could have been more accounts from the German side, especially from some of the infantry divisions - but perhaps these don't exist.
Recommended for readers who enjoy Ambrose, Beevor, or Atkinson and are looking for something on this campaign.
May 26, 2010
A great narrative account of the war in Italy from the breaking of the Gothic Line at Monte Cassino to the end of the war in the Po valley.
It really shines when it comes to the thoughts, feelings and motivations of the people involved. The chapter "The Reason Why" about the motivations behind the terrible anti-partisan reprisals is a particularly vivid example: it felt somehow chilling how, in the light that Holland shed on them, the rationale behind these atrocities becomes graspable.
Holland is, however, much less proficient on military matters. His description of a Priest as a self-propelled 3" naval gun (which left me wondering if the vehicle in question in this text passage really was a Priest or rather some other vehicle) or the mention of a German 2cm anti-tank gun unit (there's no such thing as a German 2cm anti-tank gun, so I think it might have been an anti-aircraft unit instead) are very revealing in this respect - especially since there are hardly any other mentions of particular military equipment at all in 500 pages about a war. The author seems to have avoided to go too much into these things, and it seems there was a reason for this.
Nonetheless, since this is my only complaint about an otherwise brilliant book, that's a 4 star rating from me.
It really shines when it comes to the thoughts, feelings and motivations of the people involved. The chapter "The Reason Why" about the motivations behind the terrible anti-partisan reprisals is a particularly vivid example: it felt somehow chilling how, in the light that Holland shed on them, the rationale behind these atrocities becomes graspable.
Holland is, however, much less proficient on military matters. His description of a Priest as a self-propelled 3" naval gun (which left me wondering if the vehicle in question in this text passage really was a Priest or rather some other vehicle) or the mention of a German 2cm anti-tank gun unit (there's no such thing as a German 2cm anti-tank gun, so I think it might have been an anti-aircraft unit instead) are very revealing in this respect - especially since there are hardly any other mentions of particular military equipment at all in 500 pages about a war. The author seems to have avoided to go too much into these things, and it seems there was a reason for this.
Nonetheless, since this is my only complaint about an otherwise brilliant book, that's a 4 star rating from me.
December 28, 2017
It's hard for me to review books like this one. My parents met as refugees in Italy during the war and told me countless stories of their suffering. So in every WWII book that I read I am searching for my parents, knowing full well that I won't find specific mention of them. I knew them in life of course, but I still find it thrilling whenever a book is able to give me detailed accounts of what life was really like on the ground for civilians, whether they were refugees or not. This book and "War in Val d'Orcia" have probably been the most thrilling so far in terms of making me feel like I could actually see my teenage parents walking by on muddy paths, pushing carts filled with their meager belongings on the way to their next refugee camp. What makes this book so special, in my biased view, is that it's more than just a review of the facts of the war and who dropped how many bombs on what towns. This book brings the personal stories of both soldiers and civilians to life. I wish there were more like it. It's a hefty one, and dense at times. So it took me a bit of time to read through this, but it was well worth it.
April 1, 2023
This is my kind of book. I didn’t know much about the war in Italy, reading this book and Once a Hussar which was partly about Italy I have better understanding.
January 12, 2021
A very good in depth history of the second hand of the campaign in Italy. This book starting halfway during the campaign, with the final battle for Casinno, puzzled me. Holland does not explain why, perhaps another volumn will come from his hand at a later date. Or he decided enough has been written about Salerno, Casinno etc already he should focus on the less well known slugmatch which followed.
Holland is the best of a new generation of historians. His mix of big overview, strategy, personal accounts from both sides and in this volumn, the partisan front is a winner for me every time I read one of his books.
Holland is the best of a new generation of historians. His mix of big overview, strategy, personal accounts from both sides and in this volumn, the partisan front is a winner for me every time I read one of his books.
May 18, 2020
An extraordinarily detailed and well written book on the final year of the devastating war in Italy.
I’m looking forward to reading more of Holland’s books. I really liked how several maps were included at the beginning with many more specific maps throughout.
I’m looking forward to reading more of Holland’s books. I really liked how several maps were included at the beginning with many more specific maps throughout.
July 11, 2016
This book was freaking terrific. The prose is great, and the attention to details too. The way James Holland goes from that macro view on the topic but then lowers to the personal account of those involved is awesome, its like you are reading a dozen memoirs as well as a strategic overview, and he connects them both amazingly. Gotta say James Holland is now my favorite author, and i cant wait to grab Fortress Malta, Together we Stand 1942-43 and Burma '44. (already read Battle of Britain, another outstanding book)
This book was quite large, but it was a real page turner, and shed a new light to me on this campaign. Italy's Sorrow coudnt have a more appropriate title, the partisans, the massacre, the rapes, the heavy casualties....
As a brazilian, the only thing i missed on Italy's Sorrow was some more detail on the Brazilian Expeditionary Force when they got to the front. But i understand, there were more than 20 divisions on each sides. If he went on about every division this book would have more than a thousand pages.
This book was quite large, but it was a real page turner, and shed a new light to me on this campaign. Italy's Sorrow coudnt have a more appropriate title, the partisans, the massacre, the rapes, the heavy casualties....
As a brazilian, the only thing i missed on Italy's Sorrow was some more detail on the Brazilian Expeditionary Force when they got to the front. But i understand, there were more than 20 divisions on each sides. If he went on about every division this book would have more than a thousand pages.
February 16, 2025
James Holland’s work on the final stages of the War in Europe, focused on the pretty much skipped stage in Italy on larger scope works, is an incredibly detailed, yet compelling, and easy-to-follow story. While supported by a behemoth of memoirs, archives, and maps, he attaches each movement along an advancing (and retreating, from the Axis perspective) front to people that become increasingly more familiar and help the reader to understand the sheer scale and toll of the Italian front. On top of the very objective account of the events that happened, he offers the same amount of scrutiny in judgment of crimes behind the front lines for both sides, and paints a very clear picture of the tragedies that occurred on a daily basis for the Italian people who got stuck either behind or in-between frontline clashes.
March 4, 2020
This was a much more difficult read for me than 'Fortress Malta' and despite having a personal interest, I knew almost nothing of the history. My late father, a doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps had served in North Africa and then followed the 8th Army to Italy, and landed, I believe, in Salerno. However, like most soldiers, he did not talk about his war experiences which is why I decided to read Holland's 'Italy's Sorrow'. It turned out to be a ghastly war or should I say wars. Not only were the allies fighting the Germans (by then the Italians had surrendered) but the Italian partisans were fighting a civil war against the fascists while, at the same time, harrying the Germans. The atrocities metered out by all sides was inhumane and one can understand why Italy is the chaotic country it seems to be today. What they suffered in that one year 1944-45 was inconceivable. Not only did they loose so many lives but their national info-structure was damaged almost beyond repair. Like the post war Malay Emergency, the war in Italy is a forgotten war of which most British people know very little if anything at all. Everyone should learn what happened in these forgotten places.
August 14, 2016
While Shelford Bidwell and Dominick Graham's Tug of War is I would say stronger on Allied and German strategy and tactics, Holland has written an excellent narrative history covering almost all facets of the Italian campaign, including the (to many) little known but very important stories of Italian civilians, partisans and Mussolini loyalists. He is also perhaps more fair (some would say softer) on Alexander and Clark than Bidwell and Graham. I would say the two books complement each other nicely.
July 28, 2012
A brilliant account of the last year of World War Two set in Italy.
This book covers the angles and perspectives from a variety of diffrent
combatants and individuals,from Allied and Axis commanders to the ordinary
front line soldier,Italian civillian to the partisan.
Excellent stuff.
This book covers the angles and perspectives from a variety of diffrent
combatants and individuals,from Allied and Axis commanders to the ordinary
front line soldier,Italian civillian to the partisan.
Excellent stuff.
November 15, 2024
I have just finished James Holland’s “Italy’s Sorrow” - a history of the Allies’ 1944-5 campaign to recapture Italy. It is a splendid read, and will resonate strongly with any reader with an interest or a love of Italy.
After reading Rick Atkinson's "The Day of Battle", which essentially stopped at the capture of Rome in June 1944, I went looking for an account of the campaign that would educate me on the subsequent year of the campaign, up to the armistice signed in May 1945. I opted for Holland's book, and I was not disappointed.
Holland writes through the eyes of individual soldiers from both sides, and also those of partisans and ordinary civilians. Holland covers all the same military material addressed in Atkinson's book (Alexander, Clark, Truscott etc. on the Allied side and Kesselring, Von Vietinghoff, Wolff etc. on the Axis side), but in contrast to Atkinson, Holland devotes more attention to the stories of the partisans (and their opponents, the Fascist militia) and ordinary civilians -- the latter unhappily caught up in the fighting, both bombed by the Allies and also at the wrong end of German revenge 'rastrellamenti' and atrocities (e.g. Fosse Ardeatine; Monte Sole; of the estimated 700 committed in Italy).
The overall effect is to bring events closer to the reader, with a striking mixture of human warmth and horror. As Lieutenant Bob Wigan's writes "having stood on the brink of death so many times already, everything in the world seemed of greater value and beauty" (p348).
Readers with knowledge of Italy will be mesmerised as the front line progressively sweeps past villages that s/he may know, wreaking human and physical destruction. And they will recognise in the kaleidoscope of local characters that emerge so beautifully from Holland's account, those that still abound in the Italy of today: the honour-bound and the duplicitous, the scrupulously honest and the scoundrel, the proud and vain versus the humble and caring, the church-goer and the communist, the stoic and the terrorist.
What is clear is that the two years spent liberating Italy were a hell for the local population. A hell that lasted longer than might have been necessary - in spite of Allied superiority in the air - for three main reasons: the strategy promoted by Churchill as a sop to Stalin (while the Allies prepared for the Normandy landings) was only lukewarmly adopted by America as a way to draw away German troops from the other fronts and so was never fully resourced after Rome; the unrelentingly hilly terrain, right up to the southern edges of Bologna favoured the defenders ("The sad fact is that Italy was a terrible place to fight a war" p530); and the discipline of the German forces who fought better and longer than expected.
By the end, you realise how apt the title is!
As the wise Captain Peter Moore wrote to his parents, ".... a country where every station, every powerhouse and all its services are completely ruined. Italy will have to start again from very scratch after the war'. But rebuild it did, and relatively quickly ... thanks also to Italy's industry in the north having survived.
[Note to editor: there are a few typos in the HarperPress 2008 edition. EG:
p273: "picking his back'
p312: 'they used by for'
p319: 'absurd S of France'
p. 329: 'a sigle a soul']
After reading Rick Atkinson's "The Day of Battle", which essentially stopped at the capture of Rome in June 1944, I went looking for an account of the campaign that would educate me on the subsequent year of the campaign, up to the armistice signed in May 1945. I opted for Holland's book, and I was not disappointed.
Holland writes through the eyes of individual soldiers from both sides, and also those of partisans and ordinary civilians. Holland covers all the same military material addressed in Atkinson's book (Alexander, Clark, Truscott etc. on the Allied side and Kesselring, Von Vietinghoff, Wolff etc. on the Axis side), but in contrast to Atkinson, Holland devotes more attention to the stories of the partisans (and their opponents, the Fascist militia) and ordinary civilians -- the latter unhappily caught up in the fighting, both bombed by the Allies and also at the wrong end of German revenge 'rastrellamenti' and atrocities (e.g. Fosse Ardeatine; Monte Sole; of the estimated 700 committed in Italy).
The overall effect is to bring events closer to the reader, with a striking mixture of human warmth and horror. As Lieutenant Bob Wigan's writes "having stood on the brink of death so many times already, everything in the world seemed of greater value and beauty" (p348).
Readers with knowledge of Italy will be mesmerised as the front line progressively sweeps past villages that s/he may know, wreaking human and physical destruction. And they will recognise in the kaleidoscope of local characters that emerge so beautifully from Holland's account, those that still abound in the Italy of today: the honour-bound and the duplicitous, the scrupulously honest and the scoundrel, the proud and vain versus the humble and caring, the church-goer and the communist, the stoic and the terrorist.
What is clear is that the two years spent liberating Italy were a hell for the local population. A hell that lasted longer than might have been necessary - in spite of Allied superiority in the air - for three main reasons: the strategy promoted by Churchill as a sop to Stalin (while the Allies prepared for the Normandy landings) was only lukewarmly adopted by America as a way to draw away German troops from the other fronts and so was never fully resourced after Rome; the unrelentingly hilly terrain, right up to the southern edges of Bologna favoured the defenders ("The sad fact is that Italy was a terrible place to fight a war" p530); and the discipline of the German forces who fought better and longer than expected.
By the end, you realise how apt the title is!
As the wise Captain Peter Moore wrote to his parents, ".... a country where every station, every powerhouse and all its services are completely ruined. Italy will have to start again from very scratch after the war'. But rebuild it did, and relatively quickly ... thanks also to Italy's industry in the north having survived.
[Note to editor: there are a few typos in the HarperPress 2008 edition. EG:
p273: "picking his back'
p312: 'they used by for'
p319: 'absurd S of France'
p. 329: 'a sigle a soul']
May 13, 2024
this is an excellent book covering the last 12 months of the Second World War in Italy, from the end of the fight for Monte Cassino, through the liberation of Rome, to the negotiated end of hostilities, with contributions from a large number of participants. Unlike many military history books, including many of Holland's other books, this records the suffering of the Italian civilians too, as the war ravages their home and lands, and they suffer at the hands of the Germans, the victorious allies (this isn't shy when it comes to recording crimes committed by the winners, particularly when talking about thousands of rapes linked to French colonial troops, none of whom appear to have been punished) and their fellow countrymen, as Italy is split with some continuing to support Mussolini and siding with the Germans, and other fighting against them, with the partisans (and all the suffering that entails) and the allied armies. A very good and timely book that shows the suffering of civilians caught in a war not of their making.
February 25, 2021
This is the theatre of that war often overlooked by many but, in many ways, it was one of the most brutal fronts of the conflict fought, for the most part, in unforgiving territory and weather.
Knowing some of the locations and the history of this wonderful country pretty well, it's hard not to feel the pain of those involved and particularly the Italian contedini who suffered so much on, and from, both sides.
The author brings the whole war to life through the characters he chooses to tell the stories through, covering all the combatant bases, as well as giving fair and even handed evaluations of them and their organisations and performance.
Few tomes are page turners but this one certainly is and definitely worth your time and interest.
Knowing some of the locations and the history of this wonderful country pretty well, it's hard not to feel the pain of those involved and particularly the Italian contedini who suffered so much on, and from, both sides.
The author brings the whole war to life through the characters he chooses to tell the stories through, covering all the combatant bases, as well as giving fair and even handed evaluations of them and their organisations and performance.
Few tomes are page turners but this one certainly is and definitely worth your time and interest.
December 15, 2023
Superb history by a great historian.
I was driven to read this book after reading his recent history , “ The Savage Storm” which was about the invasion of Italy. “ Italy’s Sorrow” was written some years before “ The Savage Storm” . For anyone who wants a complete understanding of the war in Italy, these are the books to read.
Wonderfully written and completely accessible to the armchair historian such as myself, these books were of strategy and tactics, but also of the the personal stories of soldiers on all sides, the Allies, the Germans and the Italians. Suffering, heroism, despair , courage - lives torn apart by war, some never to be mended.
Recommended highly.
I was driven to read this book after reading his recent history , “ The Savage Storm” which was about the invasion of Italy. “ Italy’s Sorrow” was written some years before “ The Savage Storm” . For anyone who wants a complete understanding of the war in Italy, these are the books to read.
Wonderfully written and completely accessible to the armchair historian such as myself, these books were of strategy and tactics, but also of the the personal stories of soldiers on all sides, the Allies, the Germans and the Italians. Suffering, heroism, despair , courage - lives torn apart by war, some never to be mended.
Recommended highly.
June 1, 2024
Den sidste af tre bøger i mesterhistorikeren James Hollands uofficielle trilogi om de allieredes invasion i Italien under anden verdenskrig, hvor det i denne bog er slutfasen fra maj 1944 indtil nazisternes overgivelse et år senere som bearbejdes. Som sædvanligt ekstremt godt researchet af James Holland med god blanding af overordnede strategiske overvejelser fra de allierede og aksemagternes øverste kommando, og øjenvidneberetninger fra dem der deltog direkte i kamphandlingerne. En til tider nærmest ubærligt barsk, men også spændende og oplysende beretning fra den måske lidt oversete "tredje front" under anden verdenskrig.
April 1, 2025
Amazing book on the forgotten campaign of the final 16 months of the war in Italy. An amazing book covering the soldiers of the Allied, Axis & the lesser known Italian Partisans. If you have never heard of Monte Sole, you will once you are finished with book.
After the Normandy invasion, Italy was a back channel. Thanks to James Holland, it is now longer as well his other three more recent books he wrote more recently covering Sicily to Cassino. This one starts at Cassino & goes until the end showing how brutal the costs of the Italian Campaign truly was. Giving you the operational feel of the conflict, not just strategic or tactical, but a sense from the people in the conflict.
After the Normandy invasion, Italy was a back channel. Thanks to James Holland, it is now longer as well his other three more recent books he wrote more recently covering Sicily to Cassino. This one starts at Cassino & goes until the end showing how brutal the costs of the Italian Campaign truly was. Giving you the operational feel of the conflict, not just strategic or tactical, but a sense from the people in the conflict.
December 15, 2025
The author is an excellent writer, here blending numerous personal accounts of both Germans and Italians during World War II. Until reading this book, I had never realized the level of devastation and political desperation that the Italians experienced at that time. Communists, socialists, fascists and republicans struggled to preserve their way of life, as the Allies slowly pushed the Germans north and out of the peninsula. Harrowing to read, but thankful that the author took the time to weave the stories together and document those times.
August 2, 2017
Too many books on the Dubya Dubya Two ignore the Italian front after the fall of Rome. This book, being focused on the final year, largely covers that more neglected phase in between Rome and Mussolini's upside-down pirouette. It follows a diverse selection of people from high ranking commanders to peasants in the crossfire and everyone in between. And, most importantly for my curiosity, contains some detail on life under the Salo Republic.
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August 22, 2020This was a great book about the last two years of WWII in Italy. So much press on the end of WWII is about what went on in France. In Italy, there was a deep resistance and much suffering as the allied troops marched north to finish off Germany. Unfortunately, the spoils of war allowed allied soldiers to demean and demoralize the citizens of Italy even after the demise of Mussolini. Very insightful and well written book.
September 5, 2025
Another peerless book from this author. It’s jam-packed with information and written in a very readable way. The conflict throughout Italy was brutal and savage, the Germans and some Partisans inflicting such horrors on the civilian population it’s hard to contemplate. The politics is complicated but James Holland deals with it in a way that’s understandable.
It’s a cracking book, a must for anyone with an interest in the Italian Campaign. D-Day dodgers they were not!
It’s a cracking book, a must for anyone with an interest in the Italian Campaign. D-Day dodgers they were not!
March 26, 2021
A brilliant book about a forgotten and very brutal campaign. The horror and pathos of War brought fully to the page. A story of ego's, mass murder and the poor sods soldiers and civilians who just had to somehow get through it. Hard reading at times, but due to the content, as the author writes in an accessible style.
October 1, 2023
A very impressive record of an important part of the Second World War which has usually been neglected by historians in favour of the war in France. Much of the book involves the telling of the stories of many individuals on both sides of the fighting and amongst Italian partisans and civilians - presumably in the basis of their own diaries.
December 16, 2019
Perhaps this will become the signature history of the WWII war in Italy. It is surely the best account of the war from the Partisan, Allied, and German side of the conflict. It is a reference history with the finest documentation ever conceived.. A truly good read.
November 27, 2024
A very in depth view of a not widely know theater of Combat in WWII, This books first hand account from the perspective of the many views Gives a deep insight to how badly Italy Suffered during the war.
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March 11, 2025Great text book for my 20th century family history research. I’ll come back to it. I’ve taken off all the text books I had on here (mainly first and second ww). I’m reserving Goodreads for my reading hobby and I’m listing sources for my research elsewhere.
May 13, 2017
Breathtakingly detailed. An important and gripping revisit of an atrocious war; we shall never want again.
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