The War North Of Rome: June 1944-May 1945 May 1945

by Thomas R. Brooks

An extremely well-written account of the difficult fighting in the mountainous terrain north of Rome in 1944 and 1945.

Genres: History, War, Nonfiction, World War II, Italy, Military Fiction

421 pages, Hardcover

First published April 3, 2003

Reviews

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book on a conflict not covered that much. Once Normandy started most of the news and reporter's headed to that part of Europe, leaving the grunts still fighting in the hell that was Italy understandably jaded. This book goes to some lengths to correct that.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "The War North Of Rome" Thomas R Brooks gives us a Up Front- With the Troops - history of the Italian Campaign-AFTER US General's indefensible and obtuse "Turn for Rome", letting the Germans escape from the noose the American 5th and British 8th Armies had prepared with Operation Diadem and grabbing the one-day Headlines for Entering Rome. The Strategic Plan Had been to lop off the German 10th Army as whole as possible- and then the Italian boot could be rolled up. Then a quarter of Allied forces would go to the Anvil Landing in Southern France. Clark got his just desserts- no other command wanted him- and now he would have to fight across several mountain ranges- with severely reduced forces. Thomas R . Brooks was one of those soldiers whose struggles were no less dangerous than those in France- just less well covered by the press and popular Culture. He tells that story from the Sharp end back-showing you how few men were often the whole sharp end for entire division, and how the ghastly toll of war crushes all in its wake.

Personally, the constant focus on the front takes a bit away from the overall narrative, so entwined with British Imperial and American differing approaches to War, Politics and Logistics. The Brazilians(!) fought on this front- as did the French (for a while- their Colonial Mountain troops far better than the Germans- but needed in France), South Africans, New Zealanders, Canadian (for a while - then many went to Normandy), Indian, and Italian Armies and Partisani- all of course impacting the poor civilian population caught between them and the "Tedeschi"- the Germans. Brooks has a constant problem with the Names and Numbering systems of The Brits and their regiments, often mixing up units-usually imperial- with Quaint but quite distinct names- but it never really detracts from the narrative. There are so few books on this part of the Campaign that this book with all its faults- no small unit diagrams for any of the 20-60 small actions that create this story for instance, is still a great resource for the WWII reader.

There are some adult themes, and some graphic casualty descriptions that make this a book best read by the Junior reader over about 15 years. For the Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast its a gold mine. LOTS of Bolt Action/Flames Of War/Angriff/Battlegroup scenario ideas and cool diorama concepts to be had- but you WILL need to get your own maps. For those players who want to roll with the US 10th Mountain Division- this is also the front where they first excelled, using their climbing skills for tactical effect. The SAS/OSS/SOE also operated on both side of the lines in this theater, so there is room for all sorts of interesting juxtapositions. I think some will want more boardroom and SHAEF content to give more Strategic and Grand Tactical underpinning to the narrative, but Brooks delivers the reader his war- gritty and frightening - and seemingly a bit out of control, probably more like he remembered it .

[Bronze Age Barbarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book about the war in Italy after it mostly left the headlines. Very informational but often the dates and units read out as a simple chronological list. That being said, at points, the writing is fantastic and captivating. The author served with the 10th Mountain Division and he tells their story amazingly.

Great reference material but people who aren't huge World War 2 researchers might find it hard to get through!

3.5/5

[David Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd really rather give this book 2.5 stars. Until about half way through, I'd have rounded down to 2 but it got better and so I now round it up to 3.

The campaign in Italy, Churchill's "soft underbelly", featured some of the harshest fighting American soldiers faced in the war. Most people know we fought there, certainly, but the story pretty much ends for most people with the capture of Rome. Not because nothing interesting happened after that, but because we invaded Normandy a couple of days later.

This book tells the story from Rome to the end of the war. The Allied forces in Italy were the most diverse of the war, including American, British, New Zealander, French, Polish, Brazilian, South African, and even Italian troops. The terrain favored the defenders, who fought with vigor until forced to retreat to the next prepared defensive positions.

The scope of events pretty much require Brooks to tell the story at the level of the larger units - Divisions, Regiments, Battalions. This means much of the book, particularly in the beginning, is sometimes more like reading railway time tables than tales of combat. He often resorts to paragraphs telling us "unit A moved here, while unit B moved there." He seldom gives us any hint of the relationship between here and there or why those places were attacked instead of some others. This would have been aided with a few good maps, but sadly the only maps provided are at much larger scales and don't include the vast majority of places named in the text.

Also, early in the book, I had the sense that Brooks was using a limited number of sources. For the German side, he mostly refers to Kesselring's "A Soldier's Record" and Senger's "Neither Fear Nor Hope". Luckily, he found many more sources on the Allied side.

Includes sources, index, bibliography, and a few maps.

[Bruinrefugee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two days after the Allies seized Rome in World War Two, they invaded France (D-Day) shifting the focus of almost every history away from the still-going battles in Italy. This book covers the period from June '44 until the end of the war, which makes it an important contribution to a fuller grasp of the Italian campaign. Unfortunately, the detailed look at the fight for one "Monte" to the next is hampered by the lack of adequate maps. There are a few at the very end, but they provide almost no sense of the mountainous terrain or key landmarks. Nevertheless, it is a story of a fight by Poles, the French, US, Britain, Canada, South Africans and a whole Brazilian division that deserves to be remembered. Overall, worth the work needed to get through, but would benefit from a stronger visual approach.

[Nishant Pappireddi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good account of the fighting in Italy after the capture of Rome. The narrative abruptly jumps between different units constantly, and I would have preferred a more seamless transition.