I learned a lot by reading this, thus the 4 star rating. I have read & really liked James Holland's work before, & will read him again..... but I think I have to say that this book was a bit more of a tough read, mostly due to having to navigate all the Italian names of towns, & also people....after a bit, these became a bit tedious for this reader. I liked the book because I wanted to learn about this WWII campaign, & this book really explained it well (if one could wade through all the unfamiliar names/places.) I liked the 'Postscript' at the end which told where many of the people ended up after Italy, & also appreciated the 'timeline of events' at the end.
I think I'd probably recommend this book to those readers that have a serious interest in this history.... Holland really explains the horrors/reality of that campaign well, but at times it can be a bit of a 'thick' read....& that's probably the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars. I really learned a lot, & value that aspect.
I received a digital ARC from publisher Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press via NetGalley for review purposes. This is my own fair & honest review.

James Holland puts the reader almost in real time with the events that unfolded during the Italian campaign of 1943-44. With personal accounts and a very thorough timeline of key events, he again shows why he is one of the most accessible and knowledgeable authors on WW2 history.

An interesting look at the invasion of Italy at Salerno and the toe of the Italian boot in 1943. The story tends to drag at times, but overall, it is an enjoyable read. The author tells the story not only from both sides, but also from the standpoint of the civilians as well. The first-hand accounts make for an interesting account of the campaign. Overall, it is an informative, well-done novel that any history enthusiast will enjoy.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

If there is one thing everyone can agree on in 1943 is that everyone was mad at the Italians, even the Italians.

James Holland's The Savage Storm looks at the invasion of Italy in 1943 from various different perspectives. This part of the war does not get nearly as much ink spilled as the invasion of Normandy and Holland drives home a main reason why this is true. The invasion of Italy was an under-supported bit of chaos. The Italians were getting out of the war but lying to everyone about it including themselves. The Allies expected to do a lot with a little and the Germans were just responding to Hitler's changing whims. Holland tells this story from a high level but also leans heavily into smaller stories of soldiers and civilians just trying to survive. There are literally dozens of characters we are introduced to and these are often the best parts of the book.

However, the sheer number of characters can also be frustrating. There are so many people to keep track of that the reader is often pulled out of the narrative to jump to another character. Multiple times, I wanted to stay with an Italian resistance fighter or a soldier trying to hold a bridge. Instead, the reader is torn out of that thread and dropped back into a different story. It's a testament to Holland that this doesn't ruin the book. It can be irksome but not fatal. Also, this is mainly a problem in the early portions. By the end when the reader has been introduced to nearly everyone, it's less noticeable. In the end, the good far outweighs any of the bad.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Grove Atlantic.)

The Savage Storm by Max Hastings

Thanks to Net Galley, the author and to the publisher for a free ARC to read and review.

The Savage Storm is excellent history. The narrative of the Allies invasion of Italy on 1943 has been told before ( and I have read about it) but this book’ s narrative history was one that captured my complete attention for days.The grand strategical goals are laid out as are the command decisions and political objectives, but the best part of this history is the focus on the men at the point of the spear.
Mr. Holland uses the voices from diaries of the combatants , Allied and German, and of the Italian peasants whose lives and livelihoods were destroyed by the horrors of modern war. Reading the thoughts of a soldier attacking the German line and then the reactions of those German troops on the other side of No Man’s Land illustrates the inhumanity of war and also the human feelings of the fear, despair and exhaustion common to all soldiers. From the soldiers’ recorded thoughts the reader sees some commonality: to survive , to be out of the rain and mud of an uncommonly wet wet winter, to be home. While many diary writers confided their dread of continued combat to their diaries, they tried to spare that to families at home in their letters. Common to both side is the knowledge that they are caught up in a machine that is grinding down the “ PBI”- poor bloody infantry” . The Savage Storm is also valuable to the reader for the recollections of those caught in the middle, Italians whose farms and families were destroyed as they cowered in the rubble. Few histories ever go beyond the conference rooms and show the horrors that come with warfare, occupation and liberation.
The most impressive thing about The Savage Storm is the illustration of the humanity of man in the inhumanity of war is the same on both sides of the front line. There are many insights in the book new to me ( and I have many histories and personal war stories) , one of which was that the casualties, for both Allies and German were as heavy in 1943 as they were in the infamous wholesale slaughters of 1917. Never knew that.
The Savage Storm is a great book and I recommend it without reservation. Now I have to find a copy of Mr. Holland’s “ Italy’s Sorrow 1944-1944” published some years ago to read for the rest of the story.
( Note: since I read a review advance digital copy thee maps and photographs in the print editions and I assume the final digital editions were not included . They would be a further asset.)

A follow-up the Holland's Sicily 43, this book covers the opening months of the Italian campaign almost entirely though contemporary participants. Italy was a hard battleground, and you really get a sense of that through this book.

The latest book by James Holland chronicles the invasion of Italy by the western allied forces in 1943. My thanks to the publishers of this book for the advance copy.

The author uses first hand accounts of the actions and battles, into which he weaves the timeline of the events. Whilst the events themselves are recounted, this is generally done by using the words of those who were present. The author used a similar method in his book "Brothers in Arms". On this occasion he seems to have gone even further down this route.

The first hand descriptions, from combatants on all sides of the battles, is compelling reading. My wish is that at the end of book there was greater clarity on what happened next to these individuals after the events of 1943.

The war in Italy, outside of the battles of Cassino and Anzio, are not widely remembered and this book goes some ways to rectifying this. The casualty figures on the allied side are truly horrific, and Mr Holland reflects on this on a number of occasions.

With the book finishing at the end of 1943, it provides the author with the opportunity to further examine the campaign in Italy. I do hope that a subsequent book with give us his insights into the final 17 months of the campaign.

James Holland has written another masterful study of a World War II campaign in The Savage Storm: the Battle for Italy 1943. He is as adept at putting the reader in a foxhole with the PBI (poor bloody infantry) as he is showing the decision-making process of the high command on both sides. He clearly shows how the Italian campaign, after Sicily, grew into an unanticipated slugfest that played to the German's advantage given the nature of the mountainous terrain which favored the defender. Highly readable, empathetic, and revealing, especially in terms of how one poor decision can lead to another. Holland is sympathetic to the American General Mark Clark, a view not held by all historians. While I might not agree with his view of Clark's actions (or lack thereof) I was happy to read a differing viewpoint. Overall, highly recommended. I received an electronic ARC of this work from the publisher.

One of the best overviews of the Italian campaign that I have come across. A great survey text for the general reader, with enough detail to satisfy the more academic or expert reader. The campaign is underrepresented in popular history of WWII and I am glad to see it is receiving new treatments from modern scholars and authors. Holland also does an effective job situating the Italian campaign as part of the broader operational history in western Europe.

Another great book by the author, James Holland. I will definitely be ordering this for our non-fiction collection.

"The Savage Storm: The Battle for Italy 1943" (to be published by Grove Atlantic, an imprint of Atlantic Monthly Press) is the latest foray into the military history of World War II by prolific author, James Holland and was recently provided to me in the form of an ARC for review purposes. I am grateful for the opportunity. The book looks at events on the Italian front from the points of view of both the Axis and Allies. For those of you who have not read much on this aspect of the European theater of war, it will prove enlightening I think. The story of the Italian campaign in 1943, is one of bad luck, missed opportunities (for both sides) and above all, intense suffering on the parts of both the primary combatants and the unfortunate Italian civilian (and military) population. The story of the men and women who suffered there reminds me of nothing so much as the similar experience of men and women on the Western Front in World War I. The author's empathy for the subjects of his text comes through on every page. This is the book's greatest accomplishment as well as its Achilles Heel. There is little doubt that this campaign was a kind of seat of the pants response to unfolding events after the success of the Allied Sicilian campaign. The shattered lives of the men and women who were there are its lasting legacy, and a sorry legacy it is. Italy is some of the most defensible territory on earth, and its geography could not have been worse from the point of view of an alliance seeking to minimize casualties by fighting a highly mechanized war. At the same time, it fell to highly trained and very experienced Germans troops lacking anything like Allied material support and without command of the air or sea to fight an essentially fighting withdrawal in the face of their enemies' overwhelming superiority in material support. This was an entirely predictable blueprint for a devastating war of attrition, and it doesn't take hindsight to see it as such. For me, this is the book's greatest flaw. The author's sympathy for the principal Allied leader on the ground, general Mark Clark, is simply unfathomable to me. It is true that Clark was in a close to hopeless situation, but I see no evidence of his attempting to do anything about it. Albert Kesselring, the German commander on the ground, was much more fortunate in his mission (defense rather than offense) than Clark was, but the author seems to see this as somewhat mitigating in examining Clark's responsibility (not exclusive to be sure), but his was the primary responsibility for presiding over the bloodbath that this campaign became. Lest I be remiss, one of the strengths of the book is the way that the author sees clearly the role that "luck" played in the fight, sometimes favoring one side and other times the other. The text is certainly worth reading, but don't leave this subject here. Many other books have been written on this subject, and there are a number of other perspectives that the student might benefit from.
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