Synopses & Reviews
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 countrys 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, Italys 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.
James Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and studied history at Durham University. A member of the British Commission for Military History and the Guild of Battlefield Guides, he also regularly contributes reviews and articles in national newspapers and magazines. He is the author of three previous historical worksFortress Malta: An Island Under Siege, 1940-1943; Together We Stand: North Africa 1942-1943Turning the Tide in the West; and Heroes: The Greatest Generation and the Second World War. Holland is married with two children and lives in Wiltshire.
During the Second World War, the campaign in Italy was the most destructive fought in Europea long, bitter and highly attritional conflict that raged up the countrys 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, Italys suffering in 1944-945 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.
James Holland has written his best book yet, a gripping, yet compassionate account of the terrible war in Italy, with a memorable depiction of civilian suffering.”Antony Beevor, award-winning author of The Fall of Berlin 1945 and Stalingrad
British historian and journalist Holland vividly recalls the final year of World War II in Italy in this masterful narrative. The controversial decision to invade Sicily and Italy following the North African campaign was purely opportunistic and intended to draw German resources away from the main action in Normandy. As critics had feared, Italy, with its rugged mountains, was a truly terrible place to fight, and the campaign became a bloody war of attrition. The final toll on combatants, civilians, and the Italian landscape was staggering; total casualties exceeded a million and entire cities were leveled. Cassino, the site of a decisive battle, was utterly100 per centdestroyed and Benevento resembled a post-apocalyptic ruin. Holland's balanced account of the savage fighting and wholesale destruction draws on the eyewitness testimony of Allied and German combatants, Italian partisans and Fascist loyalists. He concludesechoing historian Rick Atkinson's excellent recent account of the campaign, The Day of Battlethat despite its terrible cost, the fight in Italy played a decisive role in defeating Germany. A complementary volume to Atkinson's account focusing on the earlier stages of the campaign, this is popular history at its very best: exhaustively researched, compellingly written and authoritative.”Publishers Weekly
As Holland sagely notes, the war in Italy cost as many Allied troops as the campaign in northwestern Europe; it also lasted until the bitter end of World War II. Yet it is comparatively little known. Everyone has heard of D-Day, but Anzio, Cassino and Salerno are less iconic. The peninsula's geography was a ferocious enemy all its own, split by tall mountains and narrow, easily defended valleys. Holland ventures that flaws in the supply chain and the shortage of amphibious craft that would have allowed for more extensive beach invasions had their part in extending the war, too, as did the withdrawal of seven divisions and thousands of aircraft for the Normandy landings. These were decisions made outside the theatre, writes Holland, and caused by difficult and often divisive strategic quandaries in Washington and London. Both Germans and Allies had strong leadership on the ground. Interviewing and profiling veterans on both sides, Holland offers vivid portraits of such commanders as Kesselring, Almond and Alexander, some little or only partially known even to readers versed in the history of the Italian campaign. Holland peppers his text with stirring vignettes of life under fire: a partisan bomb attack against an SS police company in the heart of Rome, a desperate defense of a German paratrooper line against advancing Indian and South African troops. The author does not shy away from the big picture in doing so, writing well of the disagreements in strategy and tactics that divided the United States and Britain, each suspicious of the motives of the other and yet willing to shed blood for its allies. Less engaging than Rick Atkinson's The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944, but still of much value to WWII buffs and generalists.”Kirkus Reviews
Review
Praise for Italy's Sorrow:
'James Holland has written his best book yet, a gripping, yet compassionate account of the terrible war in Italy, with a memorable depiction of civilian suffering.'-- Antony Beevor, award-winning author of The Fall of Berlin 1945 and Stalingrad
Praise for Together We Stand:
"Compelling and detailed...Entertaining though scholarly, this exhaustively researched narrative moves seamlessly from the exalted strategy conferences of generals and presidents to the individual grunt on the front line, offering as complete a portrait of this important episode in WWII as we are likely to see."--Publishers Weekly
"Holland deftly brings alive this harrowing and heroic story."--James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers
“Holland tells the story brilliantly. He has delved in archives for letters and diaries and diligently tracked down survivors…Holland is also excellent on high strategy and the strengths and weaknesses of commanders…Vivid, intelligently, movingly, Hollands monumental chronicle tells it like it was.”--Mail on Sunday (UK)
“His first book of military history, Fortress Malta, proclaimed the arrival of a promising talent. This one confirms it. With the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the war in Europe upon us, the bookshops are currently awash with Second World War titles. This one stands out from the crowd.”--Literary Review (UK)
Praise for Fortress of Malta:
"[A] superbly engaging history."--Publishers Weekly
“Powerful…Behind most great epic battles are the individual tales of human endurance and triumph, shards of tile that comprise the entire mosaic. Mr Holland provides those with painstaking care, frequently overlapping the daily lives of his subjects in real time, minute by minute…both a scholarly work and a gripping read…his meticulously researched book.”--Washington Times
“Combines painstaking research with effortless prose…a brilliant debut.”--Sunday Telegraph (UK)
Synopsis
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 countrys 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, Italys 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.
About the Author
James Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and studied history at Durham University. A member of the British Commission for Military History and the Guild of Battlefield Guides, he also regularly contributes reviews and articles in national newspapers and magazines. He is the author of three previous historical works - Fortress Malta: An Island Under Siege, 1940-1943; Together We Stand: North Africa 1942-1943 - Turning the Tide in the West; and Heroes: The Greatest Generation and the Second World War. His many interviews with veterans of the Second World War are available at the Imperial War Museum. James Holland is married with two children and lives in Wiltshire.