Former North Ender Author of World War II Encounters Views from a Child Firsthand Experience

Carmine Vittoria, a former North End resident that resided at North Square has authored his first non-scientific book “Bitter Chicory to Sweet Espresso.” A metaphor for the hard and better times of World War II encounters in the Naples are of Italy, through the eyes of a child-Carmine himself.

The book is not the usual adult version or perspectives of what happened in the town of Avella which sits at the critical junction point on the slopes of the Apennine mountains.

Vittoria believes that the full story of the war in the Naples area “has yet to be told”, and the book “sheds light on some of the events of that time”.

Many favorable reviews have been written on the book that covers the years from 1940 to 1949 in Italy regarding Vittoria’s knowledge of what he saw and heard back then in his town of Avella.

“Through these personal experiences set against the backdrop of history, Vittoria is able to place readers in a child’s shoes by offering them the prospective of an aging man,” Miles Ryan Fisher, Editor in Chief of the Italian-American Magazine said.

Several newspapers and magazines, most of them Italian publications, have interesting and positive things to say about Vittoria’s recollections as a child during the war.

David Cavaliere, of the Italian Tribune Newspaper said, “The book is remarkably well received and expertly written.”

The book provides different perspectives of the war than anything a reader is likely to have experienced before.

Based on all different reviews and a lengthily overview of the book has produced a true-life experience that embarks on the road of a very young and observant child.

Vittoria is a Professor Emeritus in the studies of Microwave Magnetic Materials at a Boston University. He has authored science books, one soccer book and over 400 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals.

                He is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (IEEE) a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and the recipient of many science awards.