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The Italian Army of World War I
by David Nicolle Raffaele RuggeriThe dilemma of the young Italian kingdom and the experience of her army in World War I (1914-1918) were unique among the combatant nations. Late to enter the war against the Central Powers, she faced a massively defended Austro-Hungarian front in the north, including strong mountain features, as well as distractions in the Balkans and a simultaneous rebellion in her Libyan colony. Costly and repeated battles on the Isonzo front culminated in the disaster of Caporetto in October 1917, followed by a remarkable revival and eventual victory in 1918. This concise study describes and illustrates the Italian Army's campaigns, organisation, uniforms, weapons and equipment - including the famous 'death companies' and Arditi assault troops.
The Italian Ballerina: A World War II Novel
by Kristy CambronAt the height of the Nazi occupation of Rome, an unlikely band of heroes comes together to save innocent lives in this breathtaking World War II novel based on real historical events.Rome, 1943. With the fall of Italy&’s Fascist government and the Nazi regime occupying the streets of Rome, British ballerina Julia Bradbury is stranded and forced to take refuge at a hospital on Tiber Island. But when she learns of a deadly sickness sweeping through the quarantine wards—a fake disease known only as Syndrome K—she is drawn into one of the greatest cons in history. Alongside hospital staff, friars of the adjoining church, and two Allied medics, Julia risks everything to rescue Jewish Italians from the deadly clutches of the Holocaust. Soon a little girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina arrives at their door, and Julia is determined to reunite the young dancer with her family—if only she would reveal one crucial secret: her name.Present Day. Delaney Coleman recently lost her grandfather—a beloved small-town doctor and World War II veteran, so she returns home to help her aging parents. When a mysterious Italian woman reaches out claiming to own one of the family&’s precious heirlooms, Delaney is compelled to travel to Italy and uncover the truth of her grandfather&’s hidden past. With the help of the woman&’s skeptical but charming grandson, Delaney learns of a Roman hospital that saved hundreds of Jewish people during the war. Soon, everything Delaney thought she knew about her grandfather comes into question.Based on true accounts of the invented Syndrome K sickness, The Italian Ballerina journeys from the Allied storming of the beaches at Salerno to the London ballet stage and the war-torn streets of World War II Rome, exploring the sometimes heart-wrenching choices we must make to find faith and forgiveness, and how saving a single life can impact countless others.Split timeline: WWII and present dayStand-alone novelBook length: approximately 107,000 wordsIncludes discussion questions for book clubs
The Italian Campaign, 1943–1945 (Images of War)
by Philip JowettThe Second World War Italian campaign is often less well remembered than the struggle of the Germans against the western Allies in north-west Europe and against the Soviet Union in the east. But, as this book demonstrates in over 300 photographs, the Italian peninsula was a major theater of the war in itself. More than a million Allied troops fought there, more than half a million Germans and Italians; there were over 600,00 casualties and well over 100,000 dead. The soldiers of many nations took part – Americans, Australians, Brazilians, British, Canadians, French, Germans, Greeks, Indians, Italians, Poles, South Africans – in a grueling and protracted sequence of battles across rocky, mountainous terrain that made a mockery of Churchill’s description of it as the ‘soft underbelly’ of occupied Europe. Every stage of the campaign is represented in the photographs – from the Allied landings in Sicily in 1943, through the tenacious defense by the Germans of a series of fortified lines as the Allies struggled north, to the final Allied advance across the Po in April 1945 and the German surrender. As well as showing the soldiers on all sides and the towns and Italian landscapes in which the fighting took place, the photographs record the appalling devastation the warfare left in its wake.
The Italian Executioners: The Genocide of the Jews of Italy
by David I. Kertzer Simon Levis Sullam Oona Smyth Claudia PataneA gripping revisionist history that shows how ordinary Italians played a central role in the genocide of Italian Jews during the Second World WarIn this gripping revisionist history of Italy’s role in the Holocaust, Simon Levis Sullam presents an unforgettable account of how ordinary Italians actively participated in the deportation of Italy’s Jews between 1943 and 1945, when Mussolini’s collaborationist republic was under German occupation. While most historians have long described Italians as relatively protective of Jews during this time, The Italian Executioners tells a very different story, recounting in vivid detail the shocking events of a period in which Italians set in motion almost half the arrests that sent their Jewish compatriots to Auschwitz.This brief, beautifully written narrative shines a harsh spotlight on those who turned on their Jewish fellow citizens. These collaborators ranged from petty informers to Fascist intellectuals—and their motives ran from greed to ideology. Drawing insights from Holocaust and genocide studies and combining a historian’s rigor with a novelist’s gift for scene-setting, Levis Sullam takes us into Italian cities large and small, from Florence and Venice to Brescia, showing how events played out in each. Re-creating betrayals and arrests, he draws indelible portraits of victims and perpetrators alike.Along the way, Levis Sullam dismantles the seductive popular myth of italiani brava gente—the “good Italians” who sheltered their Jewish compatriots from harm. The result is an essential correction to a widespread misconception of the Holocaust in Italy. In collaboration with the Nazis, and with different degrees and forms of involvement, the Italians were guilty of genocide.
The Italian Girl
by Anita AbrielA fearless young Italian woman risks everything to save precious artworks from the Nazis in a gripping new tale from the bestselling author of The Light After the War. Rome, 1943: Marina Tozzi adores her father Vittorio and working together in his art gallery is her only escape from the reality of the Nazi occupation. Not only has Marina inherited her father&’s passion for art but she is earning a reputation as an expert in her own right. However, Vittorio is keeping a deadly secret from his daughter. He has been hiding a Jewish artist in their basement and one day Marina returns home to find her father has been brutally murdered by a German officer. Devastated, Marina flees to Florence to seek help from a man who owes Vittorio his life. Renowned American art expert Bernard Berenson offers Marina sanctuary in his villa outside Florence and a job cataloguing his vast art library. Marina is grateful but she is determined to find a way to avenge her father. When handsome young artist Carlos proposes using her expertise to help the partisan cause against the Nazis, she has at last found her purpose. In one daring and ingenious act, Marina risks her life to save a priceless painting from falling into Nazi hands and proves her worth to the partisans. But falling in love with Carlos was not part of her plan. When Carlos suddenly disappears, Marina&’s dreams about building a life with him after the war turn to ashes. She will have to travel halfway around the world to unravel the past – and find her future.Praise for Anita Abriel &‘I was utterly moved and transfixed&’ Kristin Harmel &‘Fans of historical fiction won&’t want to miss this evocative, heartbreaking story&’ Beatriz Williams &‘Beautifully written and heartfelt&’ Jillian Cantor
The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia 1935-36
by David Nicolle Raffaele RuggeriThe Second Italo-Abyssinian War began in October 1935, when Mussolini ordered the invasion of Ethiopia from Italian-held Eritrea and Somaliland, thinking that he would easily crush an ill-prepared and badly equipped enemy. The Italians, in the face of widespread condemnation from the League of Nations, spread terror and destruction through their indiscriminate use of air power and poison gas against an enemy more used to Medieval methods of warfare. David Nicolle examines in detail the units, equipment and uniforms of the forces on both sides of this conflict that unrealistically bolstered Il Duce's colonial ambitions. A great read ably supported by Raffaele Ruggeri's detailed full-page colour plates.
The Italian Invasion of Africa: The History of Italian Colonization in Africa and the Rise and Fall of the Italian Empire
by Charles River EditorsWhen World War II broke out, Italy’s alignment with Nazi Germany meant that Italian possessions in Africa would turn the region into a crucial theater at the start of the war, and ultimately, the Italians’ inability to stave off the Allies in Africa would lead to further German involvement there, at a time when Hitler could least afford to draw resources away from the fight against the Soviets. All of it would culminate in one of the most famous battles of the war at El Alamein, pitting the legendary Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel, against the British.
The Italian Navy and Fascist Expansionism, 1935-1940 (Cass Series: Naval Policy and History #No. 7)
by Robert MallettRobert Mallett argues that the Duce's aggressive war against the Mediterranean powers, Britain and France, was to secure access to the world's oceans. Mussolini actively pursued the Italo-German alliance to gain a Fascist empire stretching from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean.
The Italian Resistance: Fascists, Guerrillas And The Allies
by Tom BehanOne of the enduring myths about World War Two is that only the Allies liberated occupied Europe. Many countries had anti-fascist Resistance movements, and Italy's was one of the biggest and most politically radical yet it remains relatively unknown outside of its own homeland. <p><p> Within Italy many plaques and streets commemorate the actions of the partisans - a movement from below that grew as Mussolini's dictatorship unravelled. Led by radical left forces, the Resistance trod a thin line between fighting their enemies at home and maintaining an uneasy working relationship with the Allies. <p> Essential for courses on World War Two and European history, Tom Behan uses unpublished archival material and interviews with surviving partisans to tell an inspiring story of liberation.
The Italian War on the Eastern Front, 1941–1943: Operations, Myths and Memories (Italian and Italian American Studies)
by Bastian Matteo SciannaThe Italian Army’s participation in Hitler’s war against the Soviet Union has remained unrecognized and understudied. Bastian Matteo Scianna offers a wide-ranging, in-depth corrective. Mining Italian, German and Russian sources, he examines the history of the Italian campaign in the East between 1941 and 1943, as well as how the campaign was remembered and memorialized in the domestic and international arena during the Cold War. Linking operational military history with memory studies, this book revises our understanding of the Italian Army in the Second World War.
The Italian Wars 1494-1559: War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe
by Christine Shaw Michael Edward MallettThe Italian Wars of 1494-1559 had a major impact on the whole of Renaissance Europe. In this important text, Michael Mallett and Christine Shaw place the conflict within the political and economic context of the wars. Emphasising the gap between aims and strategies of the political masters and what their commanders and troops could actually accomplish on the ground, they analyse developments in military tactics and the tactical use of firearms and examine how Italians of all sectors of society reacted to the wars and the inevitable political and social change that they brought about. The history of Renaissance Italy is currently being radically rethought by historians. This book is a major contribution to this re-evaluation, and will be essential reading for all students of Renaissance and military history.
The Italian Wars 1494-1559: War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe (Modern Wars In Perspective)
by Christine Shaw Michael MallettThe Italian Wars 1494–1559 outlines the major impact that these wars had, not just on the history of Italy, but on the history of Europe as a whole. It provides the first detailed account of the entire course of the wars, covering all the campaigns and placing the military conflicts in their political, diplomatic, social and economic contexts. Throughout the book, new developments in military tactics, the composition of armies, the balance between infantry and cavalry, and the use of firearms are described and analysed. How Italians of all sectors of society reacted to the wars and the inevitable political and social change that they brought about is also examined, offering a view of the wars from a variety of perspectives. Fully updated and containing a range of maps as well as a brand-new chapter on propaganda and images of war, this second edition of The Italian Wars 1494–1559 is essential reading for all students of Renaissance and military history.
The Italian Wife: a breath-taking and heartbreaking pre-WWII romance set in Italy
by Kate FurnivallTHE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLING AUTHOR'Wonderful . . . hugely ambitious and atmospheric' KATE MOSSE'Superb storytelling' DINAH JEFFERIESDiscover a brilliant story of intrigue, romance and betrayal in 1930s Italy, from the internationally bestselling author . . . .Italy, 1932 - Mussolini's Italy is growing from strength to strength, but at what cost?One bright autumn morning, architect Isabella Berotti sits at a café in the vibrant centre of Bellina, when a woman she's never met asks her to watch her ten-year-old daughter, just for a moment. Reluctantly, Isabella agrees - and then watches in horror as the woman climbs to the top of the town's clock tower and steps over the edge.This tragic encounter draws vivid memories to the surface, forcing Isabella to probe deeper into the secrets of her own past as she tries to protect the young girl from the authorities. Together with charismatic photographer Roberto Falco, Isabella is about to discover that secrets run deeper, and are more dangerous, than either of them could have possibly imagined . . .From the glittering marble piazzas to the picturesque hillside villages and winding streets of Rome, The Italian Wife will take you on an breath-taking journey. Perfect for fans of Dinah Jefferies, Lucinda Riley and Rosanna Ley.PRAISE FOR KATE FURNIVALL:'A thrilling plot ... Fast-paced with a sinister edge' The Times'A thrilling, compelling read. Wonderful!' Lesley Pearse'Gripping . . . poignant, beautifully written ...will capture the reader' The Sun'Truly captivating' Elle'Perfect escapist reading' Marie Claire'An achingly beautiful epic' New Woman'A rollicking good read' Daily Telegraph
The Italian Wife: a breath-taking and heartbreaking pre-WWII romance set in Italy
by Kate Furnivall*** THE Sunday Times TOP TEN BESTSELLING AUTHOR ***'Wonderful . . . hugely ambitious and atmospheric' Kate Mosse'Superb storytelling' Dinah Jefferies Discover a brilliant story of intrigue, romance and betrayal in 1930s Italy, from the internationally bestselling author of The Betrayal.*****Italy, 1932 -- Mussolini's Italy is growing from strength to strength, but at what cost?One bright autumn morning, architect Isabella Berotti sits at a café in the vibrant centre of Bellina, when a woman she's never met asks her to watch her ten-year-old daughter, just for a moment. Reluctantly, Isabella agrees -- and then watches in horror as the woman climbs to the top of the town's clock tower and steps over the edge.This tragic encounter draws vivid memories to the surface, forcing Isabella to probe deeper into the secrets of her own past as she tries to protect the young girl from the authorities. Together with charismatic photographer Roberto Falco, Isabella is about to discover that secrets run deeper, and are more dangerous, than either of them could have possibly imagined . . .From the glittering marble piazzas to the picturesque hillside villages and winding streets of Rome, The Italian Wife will take you on an breathtaking journey. Perfect for fans of Dinah Jefferies, Lucinda Riley and Rosanna Ley. Further praise for Kate Furnivall:'A thrilling plot ... Fast-paced with a sinister edge' Times'A thrilling, compelling read. Wonderful!' Lesley Pearse'Gripping . . . poignant, beautifully written ...will capture the reader to the last' Sun'Truly captivating' Elle'Perfect escapist reading' Marie Claire'An achingly beautiful epic' New Woman'A rollicking good read' Daily Telegraph
The Italians and the Holocaust: Persecution, Rescue, and Survival
by Susan ZuccottiEighty-five percent of Italy's Jews survived World War II. <P><P>Nevertheless, more than six thousand Italian Jews were destroyed in the Holocaust and the lives of countless others were marked by terror. <P><P>For Zuccotti, the Holocaust in Italy began when the first "black-shirted thug" poured a bottle of castor oil down the throat of his victim, or when the dignity of a single human being was violated. <P><P>Susan Zuccotti relates hundreds of stories showing the resourcefulness of the Jews, the bravery of those who helped them, and the inhumanity and indifference of others.
The Jacobite Rising of 1715 and the Murray Family: Brothers in Arms
by Rosalind AndersonA look at one of the most influential aristocratic families in Scottish history and their role in eighteenth-century politics.Based in Perthshire, the Murray family played an important role in all Jacobite rebellions, whether as rebels or supporters of the government. During the Great Rising of 1715, the head of the family, the Duke of Atholl, remained loyal to the Hanoverian government, but three of his sons were Jacobites. Two of these brothers then went on to play major roles in the 1719 Rising and in the more famous 1745.What led to their decision to commit to the Jacobite cause? A look at the earlier years of the Murrays at the end of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries sheds light on the family dynamics and helps explain how and why the brothers made the decisions they did. Traditionally the Murrays were thought to have perhaps made a conscious and pragmatic decision to have a foot in both camps, but the evidence presented here shows the brothers possessed a strong rebellious streak. Despite the heavily enforced regime of duty from their father and the Presbyterian piety of their mother, they refused to conform to their parents’ wishes and in varying degrees chose of their own volition, a different path to that expected of them.Set against the backdrop of social unrest and anxiety over against English influence in Scotland, these choices had a significant impact on the history of the family and, because of who that family was, a significant impact on the country.
The Jaguar Hunter (Gateway Essentials #400)
by Lucius ShepardFourteen stories - including "Radiant Green Star", winner of the 2001 Locus Award for Best Novella - make up this classic collection. Leading off the book is the Nebula Award-winning title story, in which a poor Honduran hunter is coerced into tracking the forbidden "Black Jaguar of Barrio Carolina." Futuristic war, menacing wind spirits, parallel worlds, a six-thousand-foot dragon: this collection proves that Shepard is neither genre fantasist not strict realist, but one of the most intriguing writers we have today.
The Jail Busters: The Secret Story of MI6, the French Resistance and Operation Jericho
by Robert LymanIn the new year of 1944 the French Resistance in northern France was on its knees. Relentless attacks on its diverse and disorganised networks by the Gestapo and the Abwehr had put many of its best operatives in prison, or worse. But in the lead up to Operation Overlord, 'D Day', the Resistance had never been more important to the Allied war effort, and many groups were in the pay of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. One such was organised by a patriot called Dominic Ponchardier. For months he had watched helplessly as his friends and colleagues had been swept up by the Nazi drag net, and cast into the old prison on the eastern outskirts of Amiens. In desperation he asked his MI6 handlers for help, and once London agreed it led to one of the most daring missions of the war. On the morning of 18 February 1944, nineteen Mosquito bombers flew at low level across the channel, skimming just above the ground to drop their bombs on sections of the walls of Amiens Prison. Hundreds escaped, scores of whom evaded recapture to continue the fight against Nazi repression. It was an epic of precision bombing, in which one of the most notable RAF heroes of the war, Group Captain Charles Pickard, lost his life. Robert Lyman's book reveals, from previously unseen sources, the full truth of MI6's involvement in the French Resistance, and narrates in vivid detail a stirring tale of courage and skill.
The Jail Busters: The Secret Story of MI6, the French Resistance and Operation Jericho
by Robert LymanIn the new year of 1944 the French Resistance in northern France was on its knees. Relentless attacks on its diverse and disorganised networks by the Gestapo and the Abwehr had put many of its best operatives in prison, or worse. But in the lead up to Operation Overlord, 'D Day', the Resistance had never been more important to the Allied war effort, and many groups were in the pay of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. One such was organised by a patriot called Dominic Ponchardier. For months he had watched helplessly as his friends and colleagues had been swept up by the Nazi drag net, and cast into the old prison on the eastern outskirts of Amiens. In desperation he asked his MI6 handlers for help, and once London agreed it led to one of the most daring missions of the war. On the morning of 18 February 1944, nineteen Mosquito bombers flew at low level across the channel, skimming just above the ground to drop their bombs on sections of the walls of Amiens Prison. Hundreds escaped, scores of whom evaded recapture to continue the fight against Nazi repression. It was an epic of precision bombing, in which one of the most notable RAF heroes of the war, Group Captain Charles Pickard, lost his life. Robert Lyman's book reveals, from previously unseen sources, the full truth of MI6's involvement in the French Resistance, and narrates in vivid detail a stirring tale of courage and skill.(P) 2014 WF Howes Ltd
The Jake Grafton Collection: The Intruders, The Minotaur, Under Siege, and The Red Horseman (Jake Grafton)
by Stephen CoontsThe hero of the New York Times–bestselling Flight of the Intruder is back in action—&“Stephen Coonts, like Jake Grafton, just keeps getting better&” (Tom Clancy). Navy pilot Jake Grafton took the fight to the enemy in the Vietnam War, winning the Congressional Medal of Honor and becoming a legend in the military community. But now he must navigate life both in the cockpit and in the halls of power as he finds himself on the front lines of a new kind of war . . . The Intruders: In this sequel to Flight of the Intruder, Grafton is stationed in the South Pacific on the USS Columbia, where his new mission is to educate an unruly group of Marines in the art of flying from an aircraft carrier. They better be fast learners, because they&’ll have to work together to survive against an enemy unlike any they&’ve ever faced. &“In the realm of today&’s military fiction, Mr. Coonts&’s The Intruders is as good as they come.&” —The Dallas Morning News The Minotaur: Grafton is heading up a top-secret stealth bomber program at the Pentagon when a series of mysterious deaths occurs, leading him on a manhunt within the US government for a Soviet mole code-named the &“Minotaur.&” If he can&’t find the traitor, Grafton could lose far more than just his career . . . &“Wildly inventive.&” —Ocala Star-Banner Under Siege: In this New York Times bestseller, when a vicious drug lord is captured and brought to Washington, DC, for trial, his fanatically loyal private army prepares to launch an attack on the United States—and its president. The only man who can stop the bloodshed and take down the assassins is Jake Grafton. &“Will keep you glued to your seat on a roller-coaster ride of adventure.&” —USA Today The Red Horseman: As the USSR falls, newly appointed intelligence chief Jake Grafton knows that even as one threat falls, several more are waiting to get their hands on the former Soviet nuclear arsenal. And as he tries to stop a possible Armageddon, someone who is supposed to be on Grafton&’s side is working to make sure he fails. &“Quick-firing excitement, plot, and action . . . Coonts at his best.&” —The Dallas Morning News
The Japan/America Film Wars: World War II Propaganda and its Cultural Contexts (Routledge Library Editions: WW2 #15)
by Abé Mark Nornes and Fukushima YukioWith contributions from noted critics and film historians from both countries, this book, first published in 1994, examines some of the most innovative and disturbing propaganda ever created. It analyses the conflicting images of these films and their effectiveness in defining public perception of the enemy. It also offers pointed commentary on the power of visual imagery to enhance racial tensions and enforce both positive and negative stereotypes of the Other.
The Japanese Art of War: Understanding the Culture of Strategy
by Thomas ClearyMilitary rule and the martial tradition of the samurai dominated Japanese culture for more than eight hundred years. According to Thomas Cleary--translator of more than thirty-five classics of Asian philosophy--the Japanese people have been so steeped in the way of the warrior that some of the manners and mentality of this outlook remain embedded in their individual and collective consciousness. Cleary shows how well-known attributes such as the reserve and mystery of formal Japanese behavior are deeply rooted in the ancient strategies of the traditional arts of war. Citing original Japanese sources that are popular among Japanese readers today, he reveals the hidden forces behind Japanese attitudes and conduct in political, business, social, and personal life.
The Japanese Empire
by Paine S. C. M.The Japanese experience of war from the late-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century presents a stunning example of the meteoric rise and shattering fall of a great power. As Japan modernized and became the one non-European great power, its leaders concluded that an empire on the Asian mainland required the containment of Russia. Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-5) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5) but became overextended in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1931-45), which escalated, with profound consequences, into World War II. A combination of incomplete institution building, an increasingly lethal international environment, a skewed balance between civil and military authority, and a misunderstanding of geopolitics explains these divergent outcomes. This analytical survey examines themes including the development of Japanese institutions, diversity of opinion within the government, domestic politics, Japanese foreign policy and China's anti-Japanese responses. It is an essential guide for those interested in history, politics and international relations.
The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force
by Paul Midford Robert D. EldridgeBased on extensive Japanese-language materials, this book is the first to examine the development of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force. It addresses: how the GSDF was able to emerge as the post-war successor of the Imperial Japanese Army despite Japan's anti-militarist constitution; how the GSDF, despite the public skepticism and even hostility that greeted its creation, built domestic and international legitimacy; and how the GSDF has responded to changes in international and domestic environments. This path-breaking study of the world's third-largest-economic power's ground army is timely for two reasons. First, the resurgence of tensions in Northeast Asia over territorial disputes, and the emphasis recent Japanese governments have placed on using the GSDF for defending Japan's outlying islands is driving media coverage and specialist interest in the GSDF. Second, the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami has focused global attention on the GSDF as Japan's lead disaster relief organization. This highly informative and thoroughly researched book provides insight for policy makers and academics interested in Japanese foreign and defense policies.
The Japanese Internment Camps: A History Perspectives Book (Perspectives Library)
by Rachel A. BaileyThis book relays the factual details of the Japanese internment camps in the United States during World War II. The narrative provides multiple accounts of the event, and readers learn details through the point of view of a child at an internment camp, a Japanese-American soldier, and a worker at the Manzanar War Relocation Center. The text offers opportunities to compare and contrast various perspectives in the text while gathering and analyzing information about a historical event.