A groundbreaking volume that represents the first examination of cultural production amongst Italian prisoners of warCaptivity and Creativity explores the artistic and material production by Italian prisoners of war (POWs) and some civilian internees who were captured by the Western Allies in 1940–43 and detained in prison camps scattered across Africa, Australia, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States during World War II. Twelve chapters discuss...

A concise, detailed examination of the Siege of the International Legations and its aftermath, featuring special artwork and maps.In 1900 a violent rebellion swept northern China – the Boxer Rebellion. The Boxers were a secret society who sought to rid their country of the pernicious influence of the foreign powers who had gradually acquired a stranglehold on China. With the connivance of the Imperial Court they laid siege to the legation quarter of Peking. Trapped...

A compact, illustrated account of the first major battle in the Western theatre of the American Civil War.Shiloh came as a horrifying shock to both the American public and those in arms. For the first time they had some idea of the terrible price that would be paid for the preservation of the Union. On 6 April 1862 General Albert Sidney Johnston caught Grant and Sherman by surprise and very nearly drove them into the River Tennessee, but was mortally wounded in the...

A compact, illustrated account of the first major battle in the Western theatre of the American Civil War.Shiloh came as a horrifying shock to both the American public and those in arms. For the first time they had some idea of the terrible price that would be paid for the preservation of the Union. On 6 April 1862 General Albert Sidney Johnston caught Grant and Sherman by surprise and very nearly drove them into the River Tennessee, but was mortally wounded in the...

Can Dante’s masterwork change your life today?Written over seven hundred years ago, Dante’s Divine Comedy remains a classic of the Western literary canon and one of the most masterful poems ever written. Join Italian literature expert Alan Perry to discover why its commentary on the human condition still resonates strongly today.In this powerful audio course, you’ll learn why The Divine Comedy is profoundly meaningful not only to Christian...

In 1943, while the world was convulsed by war, a few visionaries -- in the private sector and in the military -- committed to protect Europe's cultural heritage from the indiscriminate ravages of World War II.In the midst of the conflict, the Allied Forces appointed the monuments officers—a motley group of art historians, curators, architects, and artists—to ensure that the great masterworks of European art and architecture were not looted or bombed into oblivion. T...

'Clear, cool, plainly written and devastating' Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Times Literary SupplementA major history of the rise and fall of Italian fascism: a dark tale of violence, ideals and a country at war.In the aftermath of the First World War, the seeds of fascism were sown in Italy. While the country reeled in shock, a new movement emerged from the chaos: one that preached hatred for politicians and love for the fatherland; one that promised to bu...

Award-winning author Keith Lowe's newest critical deep-dive into the history of Naples during WWII.Keith Lowe has chronicled the end of WWII in Europe in his award-winning book Savage Continent and the war’s aftermath in the sequel, The Fear and the Freedom. In Naples 1944, he brings readers another masterful chronicle of the terrible and often unexpected consequences of war. Even before the fall of Mussolini, Naples was a place of great ...

'An enjoyable, highly readable history that manages to bring murky, often fiendishly complex events into the light' Sunday TimesItaly emerged from the Second World War in ruins. Divided, invaded and economically broken, it was a nation that some people claimed had ceased to exist. And yet, as rural society disappeared almost overnight, by the 1960s, it could boast the fastest-growing economy in the world.In The Archipelago, historian John ...

'Fascinating and trenchant, this account of contemporary Italian neo-fascism is both original and shocking' - John Foot, historianThe dominant force in Italian politics is Giorgia Meloni's Fratelli d'Italia — a party with a direct genealogy from Mussolini's regime. Surging to prominence in recent years, it has waged a fierce culture war around national identity, polarised political debate around World War II, and secured the largest vote share in Italy's 2022 gener...

In this fascinating look at the unique conjuncture of factors surrounding Il Duce’s seizure of power, eminent historian Donald Sassoon traces the political circumstances that sent Italy on a collision course with the most destructive war of the century.On the morning of 30 October 1922, Mussolini arrived in Rome to accept the premiership of a constitutional, conservative government. Within five years, however, his regime would morph into a dictatorship that neither his fascist supp...

This is a major new account of the role and performance of the Italian army during the First World War. Drawing from original, archival research, it tells the story of the army's bitter three-year struggle in the mountains of Northern Italy, including the eleven bloody battles of the Isonzo, the near-catastrophic defeat at Caporetto in 1917 and the successful, but still controversial defeat of the Austro-Hungarian army at Vittorio Veneto on the eve of the Armistice. Setting military events...