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Rome Fell Today
336 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1969
13 people want to read
About the author
Robert H. Adleman
9 books1 followerA photographer and tail gunner in World War II, Adleman was a businessman and a historian who began a collaboration with U.S. Army Colonel George Walton to write books about World War II, the most successful of which was 1966's The Devil's Brigade. A story about the 1st Special Service Force nicknamed the "Devil's Brigade", the book would be turned into a motion picture of the same name.
After selling the movie rights, Adleman and his wife moved from Philadelphia to Malibu, California. They remained there for a number of years until they acquired a large ranch property in Oregon. At which point they opened the restaurant The Bella Union, featuring the "peach baboo", a cocktail named after their grandson's childhood treat. The Bella Union remains successful in Jacksonville, Oregon to this day. Adleman died in 1995. His wife and two daughters scattered his ashes on the ocean at the beach in Malibu.
-Wikipedia
After selling the movie rights, Adleman and his wife moved from Philadelphia to Malibu, California. They remained there for a number of years until they acquired a large ranch property in Oregon. At which point they opened the restaurant The Bella Union, featuring the "peach baboo", a cocktail named after their grandson's childhood treat. The Bella Union remains successful in Jacksonville, Oregon to this day. Adleman died in 1995. His wife and two daughters scattered his ashes on the ocean at the beach in Malibu.
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 6, 2023
Rome Fell Today June 4th 1944
I knew very little about WW2 in Rome.
I definitely knew more about Ancient Rome - Julius Caesar, the god Jupiter, Diana the goddess of the hunt, the attacks by Hannibal, the Roman Emperors, the role of Rome in the Greek New Testament. I knew more about La Cosa Nostra (“our thing”) and the Mafia. I lived in Italy for three months, traveling everywhere - Assisi, Monte Cassino, Perugia, Caserta, and Roma. Roma with its beautiful statues, its grand piazzas, its Sistine Chapel, its Vatican, its wide streets so you could have chariots coming both ways.
First, I did not know the very fact the Allied forces fought there was controversial, considered by some a waste of time and lives. Second, I did not realize that not only for Hannibal of Carthage, Italy was a difficult place to fight in for Germans and Allied armies as well, because of the mountains. Third, should I have been surprised at all the egos clashing with one another? This general wanting more credit, that general wanting more control, another general wanting his picture in the papers more often? Such is the way of all human activity. Fourth, the Nazi occupation was as oppressive as it was anywhere though they left the Vatican pretty much alone. The Jews suffered tremendously. Think of the Italian film It’s a Beautiful Life.
The author was able to interview many of those involved in the Italian Liberation because he wrote the book when most of them were still alive (1968). He interviewed Germans, Italians, Americans, Brits, Canadians, New Zealanders, you name it. This lent a fascinating aura to the narrative, moving it from the textbook category into that of the memoir, which is infinitely more lively and interesting.
This was a good and readable account though I’d still say you have to be interested in military history to fully enjoy and appreciate it. The same author wrote The Devils Brigade. According to him, the first into Rome were the Canadians and Americans of that brigade - The First Special Service Force.
An aside. I read a Bantam paperback from a second printing in 1970. So, it’s over 50 years old. The glue is still perfect, the binding tight, the pages have a cool tactile quality, and its old paper scent is amazing. I use eBooks or relatively new paperbacks or audiobooks so often I’ve forgotten about the quality experience reading an older book affords.
I knew very little about WW2 in Rome.
I definitely knew more about Ancient Rome - Julius Caesar, the god Jupiter, Diana the goddess of the hunt, the attacks by Hannibal, the Roman Emperors, the role of Rome in the Greek New Testament. I knew more about La Cosa Nostra (“our thing”) and the Mafia. I lived in Italy for three months, traveling everywhere - Assisi, Monte Cassino, Perugia, Caserta, and Roma. Roma with its beautiful statues, its grand piazzas, its Sistine Chapel, its Vatican, its wide streets so you could have chariots coming both ways.
First, I did not know the very fact the Allied forces fought there was controversial, considered by some a waste of time and lives. Second, I did not realize that not only for Hannibal of Carthage, Italy was a difficult place to fight in for Germans and Allied armies as well, because of the mountains. Third, should I have been surprised at all the egos clashing with one another? This general wanting more credit, that general wanting more control, another general wanting his picture in the papers more often? Such is the way of all human activity. Fourth, the Nazi occupation was as oppressive as it was anywhere though they left the Vatican pretty much alone. The Jews suffered tremendously. Think of the Italian film It’s a Beautiful Life.
The author was able to interview many of those involved in the Italian Liberation because he wrote the book when most of them were still alive (1968). He interviewed Germans, Italians, Americans, Brits, Canadians, New Zealanders, you name it. This lent a fascinating aura to the narrative, moving it from the textbook category into that of the memoir, which is infinitely more lively and interesting.
This was a good and readable account though I’d still say you have to be interested in military history to fully enjoy and appreciate it. The same author wrote The Devils Brigade. According to him, the first into Rome were the Canadians and Americans of that brigade - The First Special Service Force.
An aside. I read a Bantam paperback from a second printing in 1970. So, it’s over 50 years old. The glue is still perfect, the binding tight, the pages have a cool tactile quality, and its old paper scent is amazing. I use eBooks or relatively new paperbacks or audiobooks so often I’ve forgotten about the quality experience reading an older book affords.
April 25, 2017
Another Bantam war book, loved these when I was a kid. Classic story of the Italian Campaign in WWII. It was a mess, but necessary...Written in the 60's when a lot of the principals were still alive, so it was interesting from that perspective.
December 16, 2025
This is not a book about the combat leading to the liberation of Rome a day before the Normandy landings. This book is about the key personalities in Allied leadership throughout the Italian campaign.
Battles are mentioned, but these mentions are brief - no more than a page or two about Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Cassino, and the Rapido River. If you want to learn the details of these battles, each is covered in detail in many other books. I would recommend reading about those battles before taking on this book.
If you want some insight into what the various Generals leading the campaign thought and did, this is your book. You'll read about Clark, Truscott, Keyes, and others, as you'd expect. You will also learn about an interesting guy named Nic Malitch. We also spend a fair number of pages on Pope Pius XII.
The authors interviewed the Generals and their staffs. They also use numerous extended excerpts from the press, including Bill Mauldin and Eric Severeid.
The treatment of the subjects seems quite even-handed, if a bit on the complimentary side.
Battles are mentioned, but these mentions are brief - no more than a page or two about Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Cassino, and the Rapido River. If you want to learn the details of these battles, each is covered in detail in many other books. I would recommend reading about those battles before taking on this book.
If you want some insight into what the various Generals leading the campaign thought and did, this is your book. You'll read about Clark, Truscott, Keyes, and others, as you'd expect. You will also learn about an interesting guy named Nic Malitch. We also spend a fair number of pages on Pope Pius XII.
The authors interviewed the Generals and their staffs. They also use numerous extended excerpts from the press, including Bill Mauldin and Eric Severeid.
The treatment of the subjects seems quite even-handed, if a bit on the complimentary side.
November 6, 2023
My copy of this book once belonged to Gen. Robert Tryon Frederick, given to me by his grand-daughter. I think I read it just for that reason, but it turned out to be a very good book. It's readible and enjoyable for a civilian like me. My uncle took part in US forces who entered Rome. This book made me appreciate his service even more than I had before.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews