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Naples '44: A World War II Diary of Occupied Italy is exactly that: a firsthand account of the British soldier Norman Lewis� experiences in war-torn Naples after the Allies had liberated Italy during World War II.

Lewis dives straight into his arrival in the city, foregoing a lengthy backstory and immersing the reader in the immediacy of his situation. I appreciated how despite all of the brutality of the war and surrounding violence going on around him, he always displayed a poet’s eye for the natural beauty and humanity that persisted amidst the chaos. These moments serve as a poignant reminder of the enduring spirit of humanity even in the most challenging circumstances.

The initial sections of the book are particularly intense, vividly portraying scenes of war that leave a lasting impression. From witnessing a tank that had been bombed and subsequently boiled its human occupants to the point of a puddle of fat dispersing underneath the tank, to finding the body of a dead German soldier on the couch of an Italian civilian who had poisoned him with wine, the reader is thrust into the visceral horrors of conflict. Lewis's ability to convey these harrowing experiences with vivid detail showcases his skill as a descriptive writer.

As the narrative progresses, Lewis delves into the effects of war on the civilian population of Naples. He portrays the desperation and hardships faced by ordinary people, with lines like “There is a persistent rumor of a decline in the cat population of the city� and we hear of many disturbing accounts of their troubles such as the reality of fathers offering their child daughters as prostitutes to the soldiers as a means of survival.

After the first half of the book however, the middle portion of the narrative begins to become monotonous and repetitive, as the author settles into his job investigating crime and theft. This shift in focus disrupts the initial narrative momentum and I found myself losing interest. The book became a sequence of thefts that began to feel redundant after some time, with seemingly only short breaks here and there. Thus, the narrative had no feeling of a climax towards the end, ending rather abruptly.

I do recognize the importance of a work like this, and I found a number of locations in Naples that I’d like to visit when I travel to the city later this year. I also found particularly interesting his reporting of the very serious religious belief in saints and miracles and their power to control the destiny of the city in the population at the time. However, when I finished the book, I didn’t have any sort of feeling like this book would leave any lasting impact on me whatsoever and I didn’t feel any desire to look up more about the author or to explore more of his work which I think says something. However, many others have rated this book very highly, so I wouldn't necessarily discourage people from checking this out!