Internationally acclaimed historian J. Lee Ready has produced
another monumental work. Avanti: Mussolini and the Wars of Italy.
This book covers the Street War 1919-22, the Libyan War 1919-31,
the Ethiopian War 1935-40, the Spanish Civil War 1936-39 and World
War II. The book states opinions backed up by the author's forty
years of research and study. Mussolini was not executed by
partisans, but was killed trying to escape. Italy emerged
victorious in World War II. Italian troops were praised for their
bravery on all fronts. Italian arms were highly efficient at times.
Mussolini was the most popular leader in Italy in centuries, and
also the most vilified. Italians were guilty of major war crimes,
but were never punished by the Allies. The author gives evidence
for these statements and lets the reader make up his mind.
Excerpts: "In general Italian infantry performed well. Sometimes
they panicked, but at other times their bravery was outstanding,
such as on the Franco-Italian Border 1940, and in Greece,
Egypt/Libya, Eritrea/Ethiopia, Tunisia, the Russian front, Sicily,
Cassino, the crawl up the Italian boot and the battles of 1945 on
both sides of the line." - "The Russians saw no difference between
Italian and German troops." - "The Bersaglieri were elite and
consistently good, showing great audacity. At Sidi Rezegh they
reassured a nervous Rommel. At Kasserine Pass they worried the
Americans. On the Russian front they sliced their way through
Russian hordes." - "In Sicily even Nazis praised Italian
artillery." - "On Corsica the French insisted on keeping their
Italian artillery in action." - "When the veterans of the US 88th
Division ran up against the Italians they described them as
'elite'." - "The Royal Navy had a healthy respect for the Italian
Navy." - "The American experience of fighting against Italians was
gained in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy, where they encountered
courageous opposition." - "British generals described Allied
Italian units as 'invaluable', 'exceeded expectations', 'the
bravery of the Italian troops in action is beyond question', 'they
are paying a very worthwhile dividend', 'morale in these groups is
very high'." - "American generals described Allied Italian units as
'valuable, without which US Fifth Army could not have operated'." -
"Without Italian military efficiency there would have been no
victory at Teruel, no destruction of British armor in the desert,
no charge across Russia, no impressive last stands at Keren, Amba
Alagi, Alamein or Enfidaville, and no partisan uprising." - "But
decent leadership, such as provided by the Duke D'Aosta, Lorenzini,
Nasi, Utili, Bergonzolli and Messe, was all too rare." -
"Mussolini's invasion of Albania taught a predominantly Moslem
people the meaning of Christianity by invading and conquering them
on Easter weekend " - "Much of Moslem Libya's attitude to the world
can be attributed to their treatment at the hands of the Christian
Italians." - "Did the civilians of Barcelona really die because
their love of their Catalonian homeland threatened Italy, or
because Mussolini wanted to impress the world with his new
airplanes?" - "Prior to Mussolini the only hope for a poor farm
worker was to emigrate." - " Mussolini] gave Italy a boom economy
that helped her sail through the Great Depression practically
unharmed." - "in Mussolini's Italy the nobility slept like babes
with the assurance that their privileges would still be there in
the morning." - "he bought off the Roman Catholic Church with the
greatest gift of all: he gave the church its own country, the
Vatican." - "he whittled down the nation's major criminal families,
including the 'Mafia' in Sicily." - "he created an air force that
was the envy of the world, with Italian pilots as popular in the
public imagination as race car drivers." Controversial and
opinionative as all good histories should be, this book, Avanti,
should be considered a standard work in Italian history and the
story o
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