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Rating: 
Summary: ... and most of them got away
Review: I have just finished reading Robert Katz's "The Battle for Rome: The Germans, the Allies, the Partisans, and the Pope," (New York, 2003, Simon & Schuster).
The book is primarily the story of how Rome was finally taken by the Allies on the day before D-Day in Normandy, long after the successful Anzio landing from which Gen. John Lucas did not break out while the roads to Rome were open.
It tells the horrible story of the German massacre of 355 Romans in the Ardeatine Caves and how the Germans responsible all escaped the death sentences pronounced over them for the greatest World War II atrocity committed in Italy and how ABC's Sam Donalson tracked down one of the killers, Capt. Erich Priebke, in South America, to which he had fled thanks to the U.S. Army's Rat Line for war criminals.
But throughout the book, there are glimpses of the OSS's Peter Tompkins who had to overcome the fact that two others claimed to be the chief OSS leader in Rome while various seedy types betrayed each other and Tompkins. Eventually, just before the 88th U.S. Infantry Division entered Rome on the eve of D-Day in Normandy, Tompkins had a radio for contact with OSS, but one of his seedy challengers had the crystals. So Tompkins had to leave Rome on the eve of liberation. (Katz omits mention of the 88th Blue Devils in his text, but does credit them in a cutline for a picture.)
To make the book readable, Katz keeps returning to the story of Paulo and Elena (conspiratorial names), two of the greatest Italian Resistance heroes, both of whom took part in the ambush of singing SS men in the Via Rasella that led to the Ardeatine Massacre.
Katz also does a great job in refuting the Vatican claim that Pope Pius XII did much to save the Jews of Italy and shows that the roundup of Rome's Jews (with only one survivor) took place under the Pope's balcony and with his silence.
Rating: 
Summary: Who should read this book?
Review: Robert Katz is to be congratulated and thanked for reminding us what happened
when the Germans occupied Rome from late 1943 to Spring 1944. Hundreds of
Italians, Jews and others lost their lives before the Allied armies were able to
help because of the Pope's unwillingness to take a stand in defense of the
people and because of his fear of Communism and concern for the safety of the
Papal State. This book should be read by everyone interested in the history of
World War II. It is so well written that it reads like fiction.Alex J. Rosenberg
New York
Rating:
Summary: Excellent piece of history
Review: The Battle for Rome by Robert Katz is an engrossing, vivid telling of an often overlooked campaign in World War II. Most people tend to think of Rome as being on the sidelines of the European conflict but, as Katz masterfully shows, this is not at all the case. In The Battle of Rome, we see the Allies fighting to overtake the Germans and push them out of the city, the Italian patriots fighting to re-capture Rome from the Nazis and the Pope practically collaborating with the Germans to protect the Vatican at the expense of the Italians. There is so much going on in this book, so much detail and intrigue but Katz holds it all together and keeps the story moving forward at a breathtaking pace.This book is well-researched and masterfully written. Definitely recommended for any WWII buff or anyone who loves top-notch historical scholarship.
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