Naples '44: An Intelligence Officer in the Italian Labyrinth. Norman Lewis

Lewis left us with a fascinating account of this small but very human part of WWII. And gathered some very interesting details that otherwise would have been lost forever.

This is a real gem of a memoir-cum-diary of World War II in Naples and its environs. I have just 'discovered' Mr. Lewis, and am knocked out by his eye for detail and the transparency of his writing. The book really gives you a sense sense of the tragi-comedy of a city recently liberated from the Germans; more than that, you cannot help but be impressed with the creativeness of Neapolitans' dealings with the incredible difficulties they faced after the Germans retreated North. You will also, sadly, get a sense that the United States Army was not completely comprised of "Band of Brothers" soldiers. Nor, for that matter, was the British. Read this book.

This is not a book for the sqeamish, nor is it a book for those seeking a Tom Brokaw-ish golden memory of WWII. It is, however, a wonderfully written, and easy-to-read war diary. Every page is fascinating in it's detail of human behavior. If you are seeking information about the movements of great armies and generals,or a recap of military hardware or uniforms, this isn't it. This is a good look at what war does to the people who have to live in the middle of it, and how occupying armies deal with people and customs they barely understand. We have very deep ties with Italy and the Italians, so it makes one wonder whether it's possible for Iraq to make a post-invasion recovery. There is a critical difference, we and the Germans mostly disarmed the Italian populace.They didn't wander the streets with AK-47s and RPGs, though weapons were hidden for a possible civil war. I also recommend reading "The War in Val D'Orcia" by Iris Origo for a look at WWII Italian life farther north in the Apennine mountains of Italy.

This is quite possibly the best book about World War II AND the best book about Italy you're likely to find... Full of striking telling detail from the opening confusion of the Allied invasion on the beaches of Salerno (the author, a young British intelligence officer posted to Italy behind his knowledge of Spanish, finds himself under fire in a wilderness of typewriters and other randomly strewn office equipment) to the improbable eruption of Vesuvius (and the Neapolitans' belief, amply demonstrated by historical prededent, that otherwise inexorable flows of lava could be stopped by the relics of Catholic saints)... Lewis is a master observer of the particular and this book, written after a mid-1950s perusal of his old wartime notebooks following publication of half a dozen other volumes, shows off his unmatched gift for quiet understatement. The residents of Naples were reduced to medieval conditions of famine and hygiene and were heartily sick of the war in 1944, prostitution was rampant with young girls often the only employables in a family, electric lines and even manholes were plundered for their scrap value. A clandestine mail service between Naples and still-Nazi-occupied Rome was a particular vexation to Lewis and his intelligence collegues, especially as some of Naples' most prominent citizens (including a midget gynecologist who was able to use both hands for non-incision internal surgery, and who specialized in restoration of virginity), were among the amateur postmen. The doings of Lucky Luciano and other characters on the late-WWII scene in Italy, and the incredible bungling and callousness of the occupation authorities are ably chronicled. Don't miss this one.