Customer Reviews

Love And War in the Apennines

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During World War II, the rural citizens of northern Italy vowed to assist Allied soldiers on the run in their mountainous region. They were operating on an informed heart, on the Golden Rule, wanting to give aid to those who opposed the hated Fascists and Nazis as they would hope someone would help their own sons. And while the Allies were protected by the Geneva Convention should they be captured, the citizens were not and they were subject to less humane punishment, sometimes torture and death, if their actions were found out. But they did it anyway. It is these people, who otherwise lived a pastoral, ancient way of life, whom travel writer extraordinaire Eric Newby profiles in his memoir, LOVE AND WAR IN THE APENNINES.

Those familiar with Newby's other books will find his signature wit, self-deprecating humor and descriptive powers at work here, but his curiosity and appreciation of other people and cultures is in highest gear. He comes to meet the peasantry of northern Italy after fleeing a prison during the chaos following the ouster of Mussolini in September 1943. He is helped by a succession of individuals and families, including the woman who would become his wife and companion in later adventures, the estimable Wanda. The book ends with his unfortunate recapture by the Germans and in an epilogue he revisits the people who took him in ten years after.

Newby is a hugely gifted writer, his sentences are knowing and clear as a bell. He orders information rhythmically, always knows when less is more and more is more. He never bows to sentimentality, never sells anyone out. He does a remarkable job of expressing the fear and dispiritedness that politics and war heave on a people, at the same time revealing their resilience. There is much to admire in this book.

The Italians Newby depicts in this memoir (and also in his "A Small Place in Italy") are often funny, but never buffoonish. Newby's warm admiration for country folk is always evident, as in this passage where a retired stonemason helps remove an enormous boulder from the hideout the locals are making for him:

"He went over it with his hands, very slowly, almost lovingly. It must have weighed half a ton. Then, when he had finished caressing it, he called for a sledgehammer and hit it deliberately but not particularly hard and it broke into two almost equal halves. It was like magic and I would not have been surprised if a toad had emerged from it and turned into a princess who had been asleep for a million years."

Readers familiar with Newby's travel writing will find all his strengths here: his eye for detail, his warmth of character, his humor (mostly self-deprecating). They will also find a love story -- one made all the more poignant by Newby's craftsmanlike selection of few but telling scenes.

I just love Eric newby's writing, and this autobiographical account of his experiences in Italy during WW2 is beautifully realised. This is worth reading at the same time as Carlo Levi's 'Christ Stopped At Eboli' , which I have also reviewed. The warmth and generosity shown Newby, an English POW soldier on the run by the mountain people is touching and bitter-sweet. This is a fitting testament to them.

eric newby went on to become one of the century's funniest travel writer, but his most exciting adventure was that of a 20-year old britsh POW during the second world on the run from the germans and being hidden by a network of italian families. (he went on a to marry one of them, a blonde partisan.) this is not a war book -- except for his capture there is no military action. but it's one of the best and most suspenseful tales of the confusion that reigned in italy during the german occupation. it's also a remarkable description of rural italian life, and anyone who knows the italian countryside and italians will find it extremely funny at times. i'm amazed no one has made a movie from this book.

Newby's writing can be rather dry, but in this recounting of his escape from the Germans in WWII Italy, he strikes a fine balance between mawkish sentimentalism and tough-guy posturing. An engrossing narration about the extraordinary measures ordinary people can and will resort to, to stay alive and to do what they think is right. Encouraging, inspiring, and highly recommended.

The Italians Newby depicts in this memoir (and also in his "A Small Place in Italy") are often funny, but never buffoonish. Newby's warm admiration for country folk is always evident, as in this passage where a retired stonemason helps remove an enormous boulder from the hideout the locals are making for him:

"He went over it with his hands, very slowly, almost lovingly. It must have weighed half a ton. Then, when he had finished caressing it, he called for a sledgehammer and hit it deliberately but not particularly hard and it broke into two almost equal halves. It was like magic and I would not have been surprised if a toad had emerged from it and turned into a princess who had been asleep for a million years."

Readers familiar with Newby's travel writing will find all his strengths here: his eye for detail, his warmth of character, his humor (mostly self-deprecating). They will also find a love story -- one made all the more poignant by Newby's craftsmanlike selection of few but telling scenes.

I totally agree with the "Paris reviewer's" comments, although I did not read the book -- I listened to it on audio tape. What a treat! Mr. Newby is a delightful writer, and so far my wife and I have enjoyed 4 of his books on tapes. They are wonderful companions on long drives. His adventures (and later with Mrs. Newby -- Wanda) are akin to the "Thin Man on a Walkabout" -- except they are fact not fiction! Like the Paris reviewer I can't see why someone has not made movies of several of his books!

Eric Newby knows how to tell a story. This is one of the few books that I started over again immediately after finishing it the first time. The insight into the minds of these extraordinary Italian farmers who hid prisoners of war without thought to their own lives and safety is one of the great adventure reads to come out of World War II. Having passed through this countryside so many times traveling between Milan and Florence, I know first hand how rugged it is. Just to get through these mountains by train is an adventure, as there are dozens of tunnels to pass through after one leaves Bologna. Newby brings the setting to life for the reader, and we walk in his footsteps as he falls upon adverture after another. There is almost an unreal quality to this story, expecially his meeting the wonderful mountain men who live in the most remote parts of these mountains. If you want a really good read, grab a copy of this book. You will not be disappointed.

Enticing novel about a World War II POW, giving insight into the countryside of Italy and the people. Used as a resorce book for my book "Three Toes Lives On!"

This delightful and beautifully crafted book tells the story of what happened when British soldier Eric Newby -- later to gain fame as a travel writer -- was captured in 1943 after a farcical commando raid on a German air base in Sicily. The story of the raid is hilarious but the narrative soon bogs down badly when he describes the prisoner of war camp in northern Italy and spends page after page on the various classes of officer and who would talk to whom and who wouldn't. This book was written at a time when Britain was still pretty obsessed with its class structure and you can easily skip to the chapter when Italy surrenders and the prisoners flee before the Nazi forces can take over.

Newby said he wrote the book to reveal how ordinary Italians helped prisoners despite the terrible reprisals which they knew would rain down on them if the Germans learned what they were doing. When Italy surrenders Newby has just fractured his ankle and needs help from a friendly doctor. He is gradually passed down the line into more and more remote parts of the Appenine mountain range and along the way meets a young woman who tries to teach him Italian to boost his chances of survival. They gradually fall in love but before they can make any plans Newby is on the move again. He is spirited onto a farm in a tiny impoverished village where the farmer orders him to remove a mass of rocks and boulders from a field the family desperately needs to plough. In return he can stay with. Newby painstakingly describes the primitive life the farmer, his wife and children lead, a life which really cannot have changed very much since the 16th century.

The threat of denunciation is never far away and as winter draws in, Newby has to move on and eventually winds up in a tiny cave deep in the mountains with a small heater. His beloved sends him little notes through a long and convoluted network of friends and once -- for a couple of hours -- they actually meet.

Shortly afterwards he is recaptured by the Italians and that is where this wonderful book ends. Highly recommended.