BK173
Mussolini's War
Fascist Italy's Military Struggles from Africa and Western Europe to the Mediterranean and Soviet Union 1935 - 1945
by Frank Joseph
Book Description:
Among the great misconceptions of modern times is the assumption that Benito Mussolini was Hitler's junior partner, who made no significant contributions to the Second World War. That conclusion originated with Allied propagandists determined to boost Anglo-American morale, while undermining Axis cooperation. The Duce's failings, real or imagined, were inflated and ridiculed; his successes, pointedly demeaned or ignored. Italy's bungling navy, ineffectual army - as cowardly as it was ill-equipped - and air force of antiquated biplanes were handily dealt with by the Western Allies. So effective was this disinformation campaign that it became post-war history, and is still generally taken for granted even by otherwise well-informed scholars and students of World War Two. But a closer examination of recently disclosed, and often neglected, original source materials presents an entirely different picture.
They shine new light, for example, on Italy's submarine service, the world's greatest in terms of tonnage, its boats sinking nearly three-quarters of a million tons of Allied shipping in three years' time. During a single operation, Italian 'human torpedoes' sank the battleships HMS Valiant and Queen Elizabeth, plus an eight-thousand-ton tanker, at their home anchorage in Alexandria, Egypt. By mid-1942, Mussolini's navy had fought its way back from crushing defeats to become the dominant power in the Mediterranean Sea.
Contrary to popular belief, his Fiat biplanes gave as good as they got in the Battle of Britain, and their monoplane replacements, such as the Macchi Greyhound, were state-of-the-art interceptors superior to the American Mustang. Savoia-Marchetti Sparrowhawk bombers accounted for seventy-two Allied warships and one hundred-ninety-six freighters before the Bagdolio armistice in 1943.
On 7 June 1942, infantry of the Italian X Corps saved Rommel's XV Brigade near Gazala, in North Africa, from otherwise certain annihilation, while horse-soldiers of the Third Cavalry Division Amedeo Duca d'Aosta defeated Soviet forces on the Don River before Stalingrad the following August in history's last cavalry charge.
As influential as these operations were on the course of World War Two, more potentially decisive was Mussolini's planned aggression against the United States' mainland. Postponed only at the last moment when its conventional explosives were slated for substitution by a nuclear device, New York City escaped an atomic attack by margins more narrow than previously understood. It is now known that Italian scientists led the world in nuclear research in 1939, and a four-engine Piaggio heavy bomber was modified to carry an atomic bomb five years later.
These and numerous other disclosures combine to debunk lingering propaganda stereotypes of an inept, ineffectual Italian armed forces. That dated portrayal is rendered obsolete by a true-to-life account of the men and weapons of Mussolini's War.
About the Author:
Frank Joseph's military history articles have appeared in FlyPast (UK), Aviation Classics (UK), Command (US), Aviation Heritage (US) and other periodicals since 1986. Beginning in 1994, he published with the U.S. Departments of Defense, Navy and Air Force, featuring interviews with veteran airmen, such as World War Two aceA" and early jet test pilot, Chuck Yeager. Joseph's Last of the Red Devils, The Story of Edward Lindsey, the Last Surviving Pilot of America's First Bomber Squadron in World War One (Galde Press, Inc., US) was enthusiastically reviewed by Lieutenant Colonel Harold E, Raugh, Jr., U.S. Army (Ret.) for Military Heritage magazine after its release in 2003. His twenty other published books, released in as many foreign editions, include Unearthing Ancient America, Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America, (both with New Pages Books, US, 2008 and 2005, respectively), and Advanced Civilizations of Prehistoric America (Bear and Company, US, 2010). He served as the editor-in-chief of Ancient American, a popular archaeology magazine, from its inception in 1993 until 2006. Frank Joseph was born in Chicago (US), and educated at Southern Illinois University's School of Journalism. He lives today with his wife, Laura, near the banks of the Mississippi River, in the midwestern United States.
"Books on Mussolini's Armies are rare enough but this comprehensive work includes the campaigns of the Royal Italian Air Force, Navy and Army in Africa Spain Europe and Russia. All students of WWII will be astounded at how well the Italian soldiers fought! - Michael Kelly, PzG Inc. President
BK173 - Mussolini's War
= English Text
Details: Hardcover, 224 pages, approximate size 6-1/2 x 8-1/2 inches, English text.
$60.00 +s/h
DG010 - Italian Fascist Dagger
Wonderful High Quality Reproduction
WW2 Italian Fiscist Dagger
Nuremberg Eagle
= Both English & German Text
= Japanese Text
