Customer Reviews

War In Italy, 1943-1945: A Brutal Story

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Mr. Lamb's effort is both moving and informative, serving to highlight many events in a post-surrender WWII Italy. A notoriously nebulous period, the author's detailed account of the state of this suddenly turbulent European power is tremendous. His research and reporting on the Allies' treatment of this fallen Axis enemy, the mounting strain of German-Italo relations throughout Mussolini's puppet regime, the uncertainty facing Italian armed forces in occupied territories and the relationships between partisans, civilians and the Italian Royal Army is unparalleled. Furthermore, Lamb gives the reader a clear understanding of Fascism's misgivings and failure, portraying a beaten, poweless dictator unable rally a nation under seige. A must read for anyone fascinated with WW II Italy.

War in Italy is well-written and excellent book - a good read! It deserves five stars, not biased reviews. This book succeeds in what it set out to do, admirably so. If you want a straight timeline, as one reviewer did, then look for a book written in that fashion. Mr. Lamb writes to inform and educate the reader about a complex situation, with many nuances and turns, and a simple chronological approach is not necessarily the best way to do it. The detailed knowledge exhibited is impressive, and Mr. Lamb fairly handles both the German and Italian aspects - if the former don't come out so well in this enterprise, it is because of the wretched nature of their actions, not Mr. Lamb. Also this is history written by someone who was actually THERE -on site at the time- and who was fluent in the language. Maybe he KNOWS a bit more than some of us looking at this so many years later? The low rating and the reasons given by some reviewers are among the most misleading I have seen on amazon - look at the reviews in the press and academia by the real experts!

Richard Lamb has written about a fantastic piece of history that none of born under the Commonwealth will ever hear at school. If you are like me, you would have been indoctrinated with how England won WWI and WWII singlehandedly and saved the world from the fanatical oppression of the emerging fascist regime.

The truth is that Italy is and was at the time of WWII a new and emerging nation. The people struggled under a waning dictator who made the gravest mistake of his life by signing a treaty with the greatest lunatic of the 20th century. At the time Italy had limited resources that were already committed in wars previously fought in Spain and Abyssinia, and were not prepared to back Hitler's dream of dominating Europe. Lamb explains how Mussolini was pushed into a pact with Hitler (the Pact of Steel) and explains Mussolini's true personal dislike for Hitler's policies. One such example is where Mussolini falls out of favour with Hitler when he refuses to persecute the Italian Jewish population.

Lamb's book opens our eyes to what happened on ground zero on Italian territory during WWII. He reveals the true politics of what went on during such turbulent times while daring to dim the limelight on traditional English heroes that we are often taught saved the world by their sword and wit alone. At the end of the day, you have to remember that victory against Germany would not have occurred without the Italian's overthrowing their own dated government.

Specific examples are equally mentioned of Italians' military units victories and defeats while Lamb sheds light on how and why they occurred. After reading, you will find not everything in Italy is as simple as it was we are traditionally taught.

If you dare to learn an impartial and objective view of Italy in WWII then read this book. It deserves 4 stars but I will give it 5 to honour Lamb with his daring courage to shake English and American history and tell Italy's story in an honest and reputable manner.

Many Americans know that former Senator and Presidential candidate Robert Dole was badly wounded while fighting in Italy in World War 2 but know little else about the conflict there, its history having been overshadowed by the Normandy invasion and the War in the Pacific. For those with an interest in finding out more about this ignored, but important struggle of the Second War World, this book provides a good overview, particularly from the standpoint of the Italians themselves, the author having been a British military officer attached to Royal Italian Army units fighting alongside the Allies.

In the wake of the defeat of Axis forces in North Africa, where Italy had played an important role, given that Libya had been its colony, the Allies as their next step launched an invasion of Sicily. After this succeeded and it became clear that the mainland of the country was imminently scheduled for invasion as well, leading military and political circles in Italy, recognizing that an Allied victory would occur in due course, decided that a change of national course was in order. Although Mussolini as the Commander or Duce of the Nation was dictator of the country, the King of Italy was still the nominal head of state and he and Field Marshal Badoglio organized a coup against Mussolini in July 1943 causing his removal from office by the Fascist supreme council. Thereafter followed 45 days of calm before the storm like limbo as Italy, still at war with the Allies, considered its next move opening up secret negotiations with the Americans while the Germans suspiciously looked on. As a result of this process, the Badoglio regime decided to surrender to the Allies and switch sides in the war in early September. The Germans, no fools, responded with alacrity to this maneuver which was badly bungled by the Italians and their Allied supporters as division after division of German troops and armor poured across the Brenner Pass from Austria into Italy as part of "Operation Axis" forcing the Badoglio's "royal government" to flee to Brindisi near the southeastern tip of the country. Simultaneously the Nazis "rescued" Mussolini from his captivity and sponsored him in the establishment of a puppet fascist "social republic" based at Salo in the far north. Real power, however, much to Mussolini's chagrin, lay with German officials throughout the country, most symbolically at Rome.

Many Italian troops, although possessed of a healthy dose of national pride, were hapless in the wake of these events as they viewed obedience to the King as fit and proper, even if they had no strong political views. As a result, although many units went over to the Germans without a fight, many others put up resistance to them to one degree or another but were defeated after a short time except in Corsica and Sardinia where with the aid of the Free French the Germans were driven out. Given that Fascist Italy had been Germany's ally, however, the Germans led by their commander General Kesselring responded with the savagery that had come to be expected of them to captured Italian troops massacring thousands of unarmed POWS they viewed as traitors, both in Italy and in areas of Greece and the Balkans under Axis occupation, and shipping off 600,000 of them to concentration camps, notwithstanding the protests of Mussolini and many Italians who remained loyal to the Axis alliance. In addition, the Nazis launched a wholesale pogrom against the small Italian Jewish community relocating them in their entirety to death camps, something even Italian fascists had little stomach for. In this regard the author seeks to acquit Pope Pius XII, considering that he did the best he could to protect and shelter Jews and other potential victims of Nazi repression but that his public stance was muted under extreme duress as Hitler had made it clear that he was considering invading the Vatican with 10,000 SS troops and pillaging its riches. Calmer heads among the Germans prevailed, however, as they considered gratuitous cruelties of this type, after a certain point, to be a diversion and waste of resources from the real military struggle against the Allies and the partisans.

Mussolini, in order to salvage his pride and to hopefully mitigate Germans abuses of Italians, organized a new fascist "republican" army led by General Graziani. These units, aside from the depredations of the fascist "Black Brigade" gangs in tandem with the SS against civilians considered to have partisan sympathies, had limited military success and did little to lessen German contempt for Italy which Hitler indicated should be treated "like Poland" although his personal fondness for Il Duce did result in the latter making two state visits to Germany to consult with Der Fuhrer ("The Leader") and to review and anoint new fascist divisions being organized there which some interned Italian prisoners were allowed to join. Many of these new recruits, however, deserted at the first opportunity upon reaching their home soil.

Of greater military significance than the rejuvenated fascist units, and of the Royal Italian Army that acquitted itself decently in action with the British beginning at Monte Cassino leading to the liberation of Bologna by them, was the guerrilla war launched by the partisans, largely under communist leadership. To this threat, the Germans responded, as usual, with characteristic brutality through the taking and execution of hostages and the burning down of whole villages, the most notorious being the massacre at the Ardeatine Cave in Rome in March 1944 where over 300 civilians were shot as part of the 10 to 1-later raised to 50 to 1-policy of retribution against civilians for the killing of German soldiers by "terrorists." Needless to say, such atrocities fueled widespread hatred of the Germans, who had been largely tolerated by the public before 1943, and the partisan movement took on a mass character liberating whole areas in the north and after the defeat of the collapse of the Wehrmacht's "Gothic Line" south of the Alpine region and its surrender in May 1945, capturing and executing Mussolini himself.

A colorful, if brutal, episode in this chronicle is the little known fact that Hitler sent several regiments of White Russian Cossacks into Northeastern Italy which he promised to them as a homeland in return for their aid in exterminating the Italian and Yugoslav partisans that were operating in this area. Although the Cossacks dealt the people they came into contact with a further dose of cruelty, they failed in their objective and they and their camp followers were forced to retreat from their ostensible promised land in an abject condition seeking at all costs to avoid coming into the custody of Soviet forces whose policy, to no surprise, was to deal summarily with such turncoats.

The book is very absorbing and readable but often assumes a familiarity with Italian culture and history that most general readers don't have. Thus, for example, one is confronted with untranslated Italian vocabulary wanting of explanation. The overall style can also at times become somewhat terse and schematic, being written in the style of the staff reports and cables that the book quotes from frequently. Nonetheless, the book, both its text and the documents appended thereto, is an accessible and informative look at an important episode in the military and political history of the Second World War in Europe.

terrible so called account of the Italian campaign in WW2 is actually a long boring diatribe against the germans which continues on almost every page, while glorifying the brave heroic italians which literally made me laugh out loud! it was a gift so i did'nt pay for it but free is still too much. avoid at all costs..much better books on the subject available but none worse

This book is not worth the read. It is lots of pages, saying that the Italians, which I am one, were duped into making bad decisions. A long denial!

terrible so called account of the Italian campaign in WW2 is actually a long boring diatribe against the germans which continues on almost every page, while glorifying the brave heroic italians which literally made me laugh out loud! it was a gift so i did'nt pay for it but free is still too much. avoid at all costs..much better books on the subject available but none worse

(actually I rate this book at 4 Stars but this webpage will not support that correction).

Many Americans know that former Senator and Presidential candidate Robert Dole was badly wounded while fighting in Italy in World War 2 but know little else about the conflict there, its history having been overshadowed by the Normandy invasion and the War in the Pacific. For those with an interest in finding out more about this ignored, but important struggle of the Second War World, this book provides a good overview, particularly from the standpoint of the Italians themselves, the author having been a British military officer attached to Royal Italian Army units fighting alongside the Allies.

In the wake of the defeat of Axis forces in North Africa, where Italy had played an important role, given that Libya had been its colony, the Allies as their next step launched an invasion of Sicily. After this succeeded and it became clear that the mainland of the country was imminently scheduled for invasion as well, leading military and political circles in Italy, recognizing that an Allied victory would occur in due course, decided that a change of national course was in order. Although Mussolini as the Commander or Duce of the Nation was dictator of the country, the King of Italy was still the nominal head of state and he and Field Marshal Badoglio organized a coup against Mussolini in July 1943 causing his removal from office by the Fascist supreme council. Thereafter followed 45 days of calm before the storm like limbo as Italy, still at war with the Allies, considered its next move opening up secret negotiations with the Americans while the Germans suspiciously looked on. As a result of this process, the Badoglio regime decided to surrender to the Allies and switch sides in the war in early September. The Germans, no fools, responded with alacrity to this maneuver which was badly bungled by the Italians and their Allied supporters as division after division of German troops and armor poured across the Brenner Pass from Austria into Italy as part of "Operation Axis" forcing the Badoglio's "royal government" to flee to Brindisi near the southeastern tip of the country. Simultaneously the Nazis "rescued" Mussolini from his captivity and sponsored him in the establishment of a puppet fascist "social republic" based at Salo in the far north. Real power, however, much to Mussolini's chagrin, lay with German officials throughout the country, most symbolically at Rome.

Many Italian troops, although possessed of a healthy dose of national pride, were hapless in the wake of these events as they viewed obedience to the King as fit and proper, even if they had no strong political views. As a result, although many units went over to the Germans without a fight, many others put up resistance to them to one degree or another but were defeated after a short time except in Corsica and Sardinia where with the aid of the Free French the Germans were driven out. Given that Fascist Italy had been Germany's ally, however, the Germans led by their commander General Kesselring responded with the savagery that had come to be expected of them to captured Italian troops massacring thousands of unarmed POWS they viewed as traitors, both in Italy and in areas of Greece and the Balkans under Axis occupation, and shipping off 600,000 of them to concentration camps, notwithstanding the protests of Mussolini and many Italians who remained loyal to the Axis alliance. In addition, the Nazis launched a wholesale pogrom against the small Italian Jewish community relocating them in their entirety to death camps, something even Italian fascists had little stomach for. In this regard the author seeks to acquit Pope Pius XII, considering that he did the best he could to protect and shelter Jews and other potential victims of Nazi repression but that his public stance was muted under extreme duress as Hitler had made it clear that he was considering invading the Vatican with 10,000 SS troops and pillaging its riches. Calmer heads among the Germans prevailed, however, as they considered gratuitous cruelties of this type, after a certain point, to be a diversion and waste of resources from the real military struggle against the Allies and the partisans.

Mussolini, in order to salvage his pride and to hopefully mitigate Germans abuses of Italians, organized a new fascist "republican" army led by General Graziani. These units, aside from the depredations of the fascist "Black Brigade" gangs in tandem with the SS against civilians considered to have partisan sympathies, had limited military success and did little to lessen German contempt for Italy which Hitler indicated should be treated "like Poland" although his personal fondness for Il Duce did result in the latter making two state visits to Germany to consult with Der Fuhrer ("The Leader") and to review and anoint new fascist divisions being organized there to which some interned Italian prisoners were allowed to join. Many of these new recruits, however, deserted at the first opportunity upon reaching their home soil.

Of greater military significance than the rejuvenated fascist units, and of the Royal Italian Army that acquitted itself decently in action with the British beginning at Monte Cassino leading to the liberation of Bologna by them, was the guerrilla war launched by the partisans, largely under communist leadership. To this threat, the Germans responded, as usual, with characteristic brutality through the taking and execution of hostages and the burning down of whole villages, the most notorious being the massacre at the Ardeatine Cave in Rome in March 1944 where over 300 civilians were shot as part of the 10 to 1-later raised to 50 to 1-policy of retribution against civilians for the killing of German soldiers by "terrorists." Needless to say, such atrocities fueled widespread hatred of the Germans, who had been largely tolerated by the public before 1943, and the partisan movement took on a mass character liberating whole areas in the north and after the defeat of the collapse of the Wehrmacht's "Gothic Line" south of the Alpine region and its surrender in May 1945, captured and executed Mussolini himself.

A colorful, if brutal, episode in this chronicle is the little known fact that Hitler sent several regiments of White Russian Cossacks into Northeastern Italy which he promised to them as a homeland in return for their aid in exterminating the Italian and Yugoslav partisans that were operating in this area. Although the Cossacks dealt the people they came into contact with a further dose of cruelty, they failed in their objective and they and their camp followers were forced to retreat from their ostensible promised land in an abject condition seeking at all costs to avoid coming into the custody of Soviet forces whose policy, to no surprise, was to deal summarily with such turncoats.

The book is very absorbing and readable but often assumes a familiarity with Italian culture and history that most general readers don't have. Thus, for example, one is confronted with untranslated Italian vocabulary wanting of explanation. The overall style can also at times become somewhat terse and schematic, being written in the style of the staff reports and cables that the book quotes from frequently. Nonetheless, the book, both its text and the documents appended thereto, is an accessible and informative look at an important episode in the military and political history of the Second World War in Europe.

This book has a very confused time line. I read the book up to page 112 and the author only talks about Mussolini and Hitler's relationship, the Italian and German Generals and the politics. There is only implied mention of what is going on with the Allies and I don't remember Patton or Montgomery being mentioned in the first 112 pages.

The book would probably appeal to someone who wanted to know the details of the politics going on inside Italy and between Italy and Germany. I was looking for a more comprehensive description of events with a single continuous timeline.

This is a most disappointing book about the history of Italy after the 8 September 1943 unconditional surrender. Lamb, who fought with the Royal Italian Army as a British officer, has never cared to disguise his hatred of Germans and his love of all thins Italian. This book, allegedly about the 4 way war fought between the Salo republic, Nazi Germany, the Allies and the Kingdom of Italy has consulted only books in Italian and English, and mostly secondary works at that.

Your suspicions of Lamb's qualifications and seriousness as a historian and researcher are aroused when he talked about the German 3. Panzer and 26. Panzer divisions (actually panzergrenadier divisions) and that Walter Reder commanded the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler troops in Italy, that Senger (und Etterlin) was the commander of the RFSS division, which was formed specifically to fight the Italians (the division started life as Himmler's Begleit Battailon, and was never expanded to a division with fighting in Italy or the Italians in mind)!

This is trash propaganda billed as serious research.