Naples '44

De: Norman Lewis

Narrado por: Nicholas Boulton

Naples '44 is an unflinching autobiographical account of a year in Naples after the armistice and Allied landings in Sorrento in 1943.

Working as a British counterintelligence officer under the Allied occupation, Lewis documents the rich pageant of life in the city and its surrounding areas. There is suffering and squalor: Criminal gangs are on the rise, along with typhus and black market commerce, and the female population is forced into part-time prostitution, simply to obtain food. Corruption is rife as a Genovese crime family member makes his way into the US army administration, and local hospitals, short on supplies, buy equipment back from those who stole it. There is farce and humor, too, witnessed in the Roman uncle paid handsomely simply to appear at funerals and lend an air of gravitas, and in Lewis's own experience of vetting proposed marriages between British soldiers and local women. Unsparing, penetrating and profoundly humane, Naples '44 is a moving portrait of the costs of war, and the resilience of a society under extreme stress.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©1978 Norman Lewis (P)2019 Naxos Audiobooks

Lovely listen

Humor and history. Great mix of both. Been to visit Naples and learned it was the most bombed city of WWII. Great descriptions of how this left the city and its citizens

Sharply observed, beautifully written, and deeply humane

Remarkable. Moving and apt description of Naples immediately after occupation and the vicissitudes and inhumanity of war & military bureaucracies.

The tragic, violent, shocking yet also life affirming story of Naples in WW2

This book offers the author’s profound personal observations and insights into the horrors and deprivations of Naples and its surrounding districts during WW2 and the resilience and courage of its occupants under the worst possible circumstances. This book exposes Nazis, Allied forces and the local Italian politicians and mafia as equally corrupt, exploitative and evil in the face of the already intolerable suffering inflicted by war of the ordinary Neapolitan people. For those who, like myself, adore this region of Italy it really is essential reading. Viva Napoli!