The Savage Storm

The Battle for Italy 1943

By: James Holland

Narrated by: Al Murray

Acclaimed WWII historian James Holland both narrates and reframes the controversial first months of the Italian Campaign and sets a new standard in the chronicling of war.

Following victory in Sicily, while the central command planned the spring 1944 invasion of France, Allied troops crossed into Southern Italy in September 1943, expecting to drive Axis forces north and liberate Rome by Christmas. Italy quickly surrendered but German divisions fiercely resisted, and the hoped-for quick victory descended into one of the most challenging and protracted battles of the entire war.

James Holland’s The Savage Storm, chronicling the dramatic opening months of the Italian Campaign in unflinching and insightful detail, is unlike any campaign history yet written. Holland has always narrated war at ground level but here goes further by chronicling events almost entirely through the contemporary eyes of those who were there on all sides and at all levels—Allied, Axis, civilians alike. Weaving together a wealth of letters, diaries, and other documents—from the likes of American General Mark Clark, German battalion commander Georg Zellner, New Zealand lance-corporal Roger Smith, legendary war reporter Ernie Pyle, and Italian politician Filippo Caracciolo—Holland traces the battles as they were experienced across plains, over mountains, through shattered villages and cities, in intense heat and, toward the end of December 1943, frigid cold and relentless rain.

Such close-up views persuade Holland to recast important aspects of the campaign, reappraising the reputation of Mark Clark himself and other senior commanders of the US Fifth and British Eighth armies. Given the shortage of Allied shipping and materiel allocated to Italy because of the build-up for D-Day, more was expected of Allied troops in Italy than anywhere else, and, as accounts at the time attest, a huge price was paid by everyone for each bloodily contested mile. Putting listeners vividly in the moment as events unfolded, with characters made unforgettable by their own words, The Savage Storm is a defining account of the pivotal months leading to Monte Cassino, and a landmark in the writing about war.

©2023 Griffon Merlin Ltd. Recorded by arrangement with Atlantic Monthly Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2023 Audible, Inc.

Detailed account from both sides

The book is based on first person accounts of participants’ experiences and thoughts. It includes accounts from Allied and Axis soldiers and civilians. The listener gets a sense of being present in the action.

Great History Retold

I enjoyed the in-depth history of Italy and the struggle to free it from German occupation during WWII.

Narrative and Personal Stories

Very detailed of the units involved but also a nice narrative using diaries and personal accounts. I also like how he focused on one year. It’s such a slog of a battle that I need this break.

I like his style and perspective that fosuses on the “little” things like personal impact, logistics, national demographic impacts etc.

forgotten front of the European theater.

Performance very well expectations. Narrator did a good job of making the reader or listener they have full attention. The author made very well work of military history of the Italian theater. Overall well done of narrating point to point of action was happening on the ground at the time.

the source material he used was some of the best I have heard.

Much is covered about 1944 in Italy. this fills in wonderfully the gap of the last 6months of 1943. His appraisal of commonly held views that are not as accurate as believed appears to be accurate and well overdue.