The Savage Storm

Starred review from October 30, 2023
Historian Holland (Brothers in Arms) returns with a captivating and dramatic account of the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943. Though Italy’s armed forces quickly capitulated after the Allied capture of Sicily in August, the German army dug into the hilly landscape, determined to make the Allies pay a heavy price. (“Italy, it was all too clear, was a defender’s dream. And an attacker’s nightmare,” Holland writes.) The invasion soon turned into one of the most protracted and bloody battles of the war; the U.S. Army’s 36th Infantry Division suffered nearly 1,000 casualties in the first eight days of fighting. Eighteen-year-old American corporal Audie Murphy (who would become the most decorated U.S. soldier in WWII) wrote of the Italian campaign, “I have seen war as it actually is, and I do not like it.” Preparations for Operation OVERLORD, the planned D-Day landing at Normandy, overshadowed the Italian invasion from the start; Churchill described it as “the tyranny of OVERLORD.” Even as the fighting continued in Italy, soldiers, supplies, and leadership attention shifted to the invasion of France. Taking those circumstances into consideration, Holland reassesses the reputations of Allied commanders in Italy, contending that they accomplished much with little support. Drawn from letters and diaries, Holland’s immersive narrative is told through the eye-level perspectives of dozens of subjects. Readers will be enthralled.

Starred review from November 1, 2023
The acclaimed World War II historian returns with an account of the first months of the Allies' World War II campaign to free Italy from Nazi rule. Holland, the author of Brothers in Arms and Big Week, draws on a number of on-the-ground accounts by participants from all sides of the conflict: diaries, personal letters, and other contemporaneous sources, many previously unpublished. Consequently, in addition to the perspectives of the generals and national leaders, readers experience the viewpoints of ordinary American, British, Canadian, and German soldiers, along with a number of Italians. The author structures the narrative chronologically, which means it jumps from one part of the front to another in the same chapter. Even readers familiar with Italian geography are likely to consult maps to follow the action. In one sense, this emphasizes Holland's overall point--that the campaign was inherently chaotic, due to the mountainous terrain over which it was fought as well as the faulty planning on both sides. For the Allies, invading Italy was meant to draw Axis forces from Normandy and fulfill Stalin's demands for a second front. However, this strategy meant that, in preparation for D-Day, too many landing craft and supply ships were withdrawn to England, leaving the troops in Italy short of supplies and reinforcement. On the German side, rival generals Rommel and Kesselring had different ideas how to defend the peninsula, and Hitler changed his mind on which one to back in mid-stream. For soldiers and civilians on the ground, the result was often little short of a nightmare. Holland effectively conveys the drama on the front lines while giving a comprehensive account of what was going on at the strategic level. A riveting, often appalling look at an under-recognized part of the fight against Hitler--a must for WWII buffs.

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November 1, 2023

As the battle for Sicily raged, Allied war planners turned their attention to an invasion of the Italian island. Using a wide array of diaries, letters, and memoirs from combatants, World War II historian Holland (Brothers in Arms; host of the podcast We Have Ways of Making You Talk) expertly weaves together the story of the fight for Italy. His book shows that the proposed invasion plan included three major objectives: knock Italy out of the war, establish airfields to launch air attacks deep into Germany, and draw much-needed German troops away from Russia and Western Europe. In early September 1943, Allied forces came ashore in southern Italy. The British and Americans quickly met their main goals, which forced the Germans to rush more troops into the country and forcefully disarm Italian soldiers. Hopes for a quick capture of Rome by Christmas were soon dashed by stiff German resistance, which effectively used the mountainous terrain to slow the Allied advance. As planning for the Normandy invasion began to take priority, Allied personnel found themselves desperately short of troops and equipment. Holland recounts the terrible obstacles, including weather, that the soldiers faced in the terrain. VERDICT Readers interested in World War II history, especially the Mediterranean campaign, will enjoy this title.--Chad E. Statler

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