The Italian Army and the First World War

Reviews / Votes

'This is the book which we have been waiting for ... a proper history of the Italian army in the First World War. Written by a scholar who knows the archives, but in English for those who don't, it will be the standard work for the foreseeable future.' Hew Strachan, University of Oxford 'An outstanding work of military history: highly impressive in the range of the sources that it uses, and exemplary in its judicious approach to the strengths and weakness of the army's performance in the First World War and to the merits and demerits of country's political and military leaders.' Christopher Duggan, University of Reading 'How Italy fought the First World War is a little-known but deeply tragic tale of political mismanagement, military malpractice and doomed valour, told by John Gooch with characteristic skill and erudition.' Macgregor Knox, London School of Economics and Political Science '[This volume], in the outstanding new Cambridge series Armies of the Great War, is a good read for anyone interested in the Great War, and particularly the 'forgotten' theatres, as well as ... students of the Italian army.' A. A. Nofi, The NYMAS Review 'Provides a sober and scholarly analysis of the Italian war which may counter many of the current anniversary outpourings with their fixation on the Western Front ... unquestionably the fullest account of how Liberal Italy fought its war - a desperate struggle which, it is always worth remembering, provoked at least 50 per cent more deaths than did the Nazi-Fascist conflict of 1940-45.' R. J. B. Bosworth, The English Historical Review 'Gooch synthesizes a vast range of material with concision, ranging from the causes and origins of Italian intervention into the war through to its social and political legacies, though the strongest sections are those on the war years themselves, where the analysis relies on extensive original research in the archives of the historical office of the Italian General Staff.' Vanda Wilcox, War in History 'Gooch offers a concise narrative history of the bloody battles that raged along Italy's north-eastern frontiers from 1915 to 1917, and in this respect alone it is a useful place to start ... the work is much more than that with Gooch also spending considerable time on such topics as recruitment, training, organisation, discipline and, above all, morale.' Charles J. Esdaile, War in History