Naples ’44

Place · Natural feature

Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius is a somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera, resulting from the collapse of an earlier, much higher structure.

In the book

Dominates March 1944, when the volcano erupts spectacularly — Lewis reaches for Pliny’s account of Pompeii — burying nearby towns in ash while he consults seismologists about the risk to military installations.

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Appears in 6 diary entries.

  1. November 25 1943
    Wartime hunger drives extreme culinary improvisation, including eating storks and rumors of a manatee served at a banquet for General Clark.
  2. March 19 1944
    Vesuvius erupts in a spectacular, awe-inspiring display, which Lewis compares to Pliny's ancient description of the eruption that destroyed Pompeii.
  3. March 20 1944
    Ashfall blankets the region; Lewis consults a seismologist about the risk to military installations near the volcano.
  4. March 24 1944
    With the eruption subsiding, Lewis meets Del Giudice, an eccentric folklore writer and expert on San Gennaro and Vesuvius.
  5. May 1 1944
    The onset of summer heat is announced by a street vendor's mournful cry, prompting the city's rhythms to visibly slow down.
  6. October 24 1944
    Lewis is abruptly ordered to a new mission repatriating Russian ex-POWs, sensing this marks the end of his time in Naples.

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