"Based on personal interviews and previously secret U.S.government archives,
this well-written account is fascinating."--Library Journal

In September 1943, Naples lay devastated by incessant bombardment from Allied planes.
The city, under an iron occupation by the Germans, was without food. During the bombardment,
the famed scugnizzi--the street boys--of Naples grew increasingly exasperated by the
passiveness of their elders. Known for centuries for their daring, verve, and enterprise, the boys
staged an incredible revolt against the occupying Germans on September 28, 1943. Dragging
furniture into the roadways, they built barricades and shot at the enemy with stolen guns,
inspiring many adults and Italian army deserters to join their ranks. Three days and hundreds
of deaths later, the Germans left the city for good.

Author and novelist Aubrey Menen was in Naples in 1948 and heard the story of those historic
four days first-hand from the scugnizzi themselves. Here he has recreated the battle
--street by street, house by house, of this extraordinarily compelling human drama.