Italy and the 2nd World War

Easily overshadowed by the war against Germany and the intensively studied campaign in Normandy, the Anglo-Italian war and its consequences are among the least explored and least understood dimensions of the Second World War. In this volume, a team of leading historians from both countries analyses the major military and political features of a war which began in enmity and ended in co-belligerence.Uniquely, the major issues of that war are examined from each side's point of view. The military history of the war is explored in essays dealing with the outbreak of war, the fighting in the Western Desert and on the mainland of Italy, with the attacks on and defence of Malta, and with the British and Italian air wars. The difficulties of constructing an armistice and the manifold problems of co-belligerence are explained and contrasted as the foundation of studies of the role and contribution of partisan warfare, British and Italian attitudes towards the peace treaties and the much-troubled issues of the future of Trieste and the Balkans. The result is a unique comparative study of war from the perspective of both sides, first as adverGooch, John is the author of 'Italy and the 2nd World War' with ISBN 9780714651224 and ISBN 0714651222.