Forgotten Battles: Italy's War of Liberation, 1943-1945 [Hardcover]

Vigorously argued and impressively researched.Italy's War of Liberation takes issue with the apparently prevalent attitude among Allied commanders during World War II that the Italian military was ineffective. O'Reilly recounts the little-known story of the significant contribution made by the Italian military during the Italian Campaign, including the contribution of relatively unacknowledged Italian Partisan formations that fought in Italy, France, Yugoslavia, and Greece. Despite the fact that Italians fought on the front lines with the British and American soldiers, and despite the service of the Italian Navy and Air Force, the Allies refused repeated Italian pleas for more involvement in combat. This book not only attempts to correct the record of military history by illustrating the ways in which the Italians were underutilized by the Allies, but it also serves to paint a fair portrait of the Italian military's substantial efforts to defeat Hitler and eradicate Fascism.Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 The Forgotten Alliance Chapter 3 Before the Armistice Chapter 4 After the Armistice Chapter 5 The War of Liberation Begins Chapter 6 The Military and the War of Liberation Chapter 7 The Army Organizes for Combat Chapter 8 The Italian Service Units Chapter 9 The Army and the Jewish Community Chapter 10 Partisan Resistance Chapter 11 The Resistance Betrayed? Chapter 12 Salo and the Germans Chapter 13 The War Ends Chapter 14 The Campaign's Trail Chapter 15 EpilogueCharles T. O'Reilly is Senior Professor and Dean Emeritus of the School of Social Work at Loyola University. He is the author of many books, most recently,Italian Social Work Education 1945-1997(1998).