Must have books

[Darren Marshall]

Write here the must have books about Italy in WW2

 

[sultanbev]

The Green Series of books from Poland are excellent:
Green Series 4122 - Light Trucks of the Italian Army in WW2 by Enrico Finazzer & Luigi Carretta MMP Books (2017) ISBN 978-83-65281-22-7
Green Series 4119 - Italian Artillery of WW2 by Enrico Finazzer & Ralph A Riccio, MMP Books (2015) ISBN 978-83-63678-61-6

An oldie but a still a little gem:
Italian Tanks & Fighting Vehicles of WW2 by Ralph Ricco, Pique Publications (1975) ISBN 0-904811-01-8

The more recent Osprey books are proving very useful:
New Vanguard 191 Italian Light Tanks 1919-1945, F Cappellano & PP Battistelli, Osprey Publishing (2012) ISBN 978-1-84908-777-3
New Vanguard 195 Italian Medium Tanks 1939-1945, F Cappellano & PP Battistelli, Osprey Publishing (2012) ISBN 978-1-84908-775-9
New Vanguard 261 Italian Armoured & Reconnaissance Cars 1911-1945, F Cappellano & PP Battistelli, Osprey Publishing (2018) 9781472824332

The Nafziger books are kinda useful as a starting point:
Italian Order of Battle WW2 by George F Nafziger vols 1, 2, 3 (1996)

For technical specs on Italian armour as used by the Germans I've not yet found better:
Encyclopedia of German Tanks of WW2, Peter Chamberlain & Hilary Doyle, Arms & Armour Press (1978/1993 reprint), ISBN 1-85409-214-6

A good read is:
Iron Hulls Iron Hearts by IW Walker, Crowoood Press (2003) ISBN 1-81626-646-4

Mark

 

[sultanbev]

The Tank Power series has some excellent colour profiles of Italian armour, including captured AFVs:
Tank Power XXIX 253 Czolgi Mussoliniego (Mussolini's Tanks) by Janusz Ledwoch, (2006) ISBN 83-7219-253-7 or978-83-7219-253-0

Mark

 

[fredleander]

Here is one I just bought at Amazon Kindle. Haven't yet read it properly but consider posting a review here when I have.

Fred

 

[fredleander]

I see now that there is already a review of this book here - link on the "Home" front page. I shall just add that it is on sale at Amazon Kindle for a few bucks. I shall post a review anyway, more on the writing as such than on the actual facts described in the book.

Fred
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[Webmaster]

I see now that there is already a review of this book here - link on the "Home" front page. I shall just add that it is on sale at Amazon Kindle for a few bucks. I shall post a review anyway, more on the writing as such than on the actual facts described in the book.

Fred
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Hi Fred,

It's always good to have new reviews. It was just a preview review anyway

 

[sultanbev]

A review of a book I've got:
http://www.warwheels.net/Review_Book_ItalianArtyKEENAN.html

 

[MelaraClubPrez]

I didn't want to start a whole new thread just for one book and I've noticed some tank books already posted.
Here's the latest one about the L6:

Carro L 6 – carri leggeri, semoventi e derivati – Analisi Difesa

www.analisidifesa.it

I haven't read it so I can't offer any opinion but the review looks decent.


"After the release of the first edition of this volume, which has long since sold out, in 2007, the same authors present a new edition, greatly expanded thanks to the documents and information collected in recent years.
The work describes the light cart L6, the self-propelled L40, the prototypes and derivatives related to them; is part of the series dedicated by the GMT to Italian armored vehicles, which already has numerous titles."

 

[Slavomir]

I haven't read it so I can't offer any opinion but the review looks decent.

Have you read it already? Is it worth he money? I mean, if one has "Gli autoveicoli..." by Pignato and Capellano does it add any new material or data?

Thank you in advance

 

[MelaraClubPrez]

No, unfortunately I haven't read it. I used my book money for Italian Truck Mounted Artillery instead.

 

[DrG]

The concept of "must have" is quite subjective, since it depends on the specific interests of each reader. Therefore, I will list only the very few books in English language which, in my opinion, should be read by everybody interested in Italy in WW2, in order to reach a good understanding of the general picture. Then, following a strictly top-down approach, each reader can specialize in his personal favourite topic, which will have its own "must have" books of course.

Ciro Paoletti, "A Military History of Italy"
This book is about Italian military history (but with a strong interest on land operations) since the end of Renaissance. Despite the very long time period covered, I think that Paoletti's book is a must have for everybody interested in Italian military history (moreover, its Italian edition has been published by the Historical Office of the Italian Army), even if only of the history of WW2, because it provides not only a lot of little-known facts, but also some extremely clever analises of the origins of the shortcomings of the Italian Army during the last World War. Moreover, the text is mostly devoted to the XXth Century, so, even if you are not interested in the Napoleonic wars (for example), you will find a good coverage of WW2 anyway. My notes are based on the Italian edition, I don't know whether this English one is identical.

Enrico Cernuschi, Alessandro Gazzi, Michele Maria Gaetani, "Sea Power: The Italian Way"
The aim of this book is to present in a simple form the long history of the Italian Navy. It deals with aspects related to the italian Sea Power from origins to the end of World War II. The Roman age is just touched briefly, the Medieval age is covered in a few pages too, then the study becomes deeper when dealing with the XVI century. About a third of the book covers the Fascist Era and WW2. The point of view is that of high strategy and naval doctrine, with frequent digressions in the fields of economy and diplomacy.

Chris Dunning, "Courage Alone: The Italian Airforce 1940-1943"
Given the relative novelty of air war, I don't know any book with a wide scope such as the aforementioned ones, but "Courage Alone" is a classic and a must have about the Regia Aeronautica in WW2.

Angela Raspin, "The Italian War Economy, 1940-1943: With Particular Reference to Italian Relations with Germany"
Dr. Raspin's PhD Thesis is still by far the best history of the Italian economy in WW2. It is the best not only in English, but also in Italian language. Its only shortcoming is that it often relies on German documents and sometimes takes their point of view, but these are minor flaws in a true "must have" book.

 

[Darren Marshall]

The concept of "must have" is quite subjective, since it depends on the specific interests of each reader. Therefore, I will list only the very few books in English language which, in my opinion, should be read by everybody interested in Italy in WW2, in order to reach a good understanding of the general picture. Then, following a strictly top-down approach, each reader can specialize in his personal favourite topic, which will have its own "must have" books of course.

Ciro Paoletti, "A Military History of Italy"
This book is about Italian military history (but with a strong interest on land operations) since the end of Renaissance. Despite the very long time period covered, I think that Paoletti's book is a must have for everybody interested in Italian military history (moreover, its Italian edition has been published by the Historical Office of the Italian Army), even if only of the history of WW2, because it provides not only a lot of little-known facts, but also some extremely clever analises of the origins of the shortcomings of the Italian Army during the last World War. Moreover, the text is mostly devoted to the XXth Century, so, even if you are not interested in the Napoleonic wars (for example), you will find a good coverage of WW2 anyway. My notes are based on the Italian edition, I don't know whether this English one is identical.

Enrico Cernuschi, Alessandro Gazzi, Michele Maria Gaetani, "Sea Power: The Italian Way"
The aim of this book is to present in a simple form the long history of the Italian Navy. It deals with aspects related to the italian Sea Power from origins to the end of World War II. The Roman age is just touched briefly, the Medieval age is covered in a few pages too, then the study becomes deeper when dealing with the XVI century. About a third of the book covers the Fascist Era and WW2. The point of view is that of high strategy and naval doctrine, with frequent digressions in the fields of economy and diplomacy.

Chris Dunning, "Courage Alone: The Italian Airforce 1940-1943"
Given the relative novelty of air war, I don't know any book with a wide scope such as the aforementioned ones, but "Courage Alone" is a classic and a must have about the Regia Aeronautica in WW2.

Angela Raspin, "The Italian War Economy, 1940-1943: With Particular Reference to Italian Relations with Germany"
Dr. Raspin's PhD Thesis is still by far the best history of the Italian economy in WW2. It is the best not only in English, but also in Italian language. Its only shortcoming is that it often relies on German documents and sometimes takes their point of view, but these are minor flaws in a true "must have" book.

In looking for the book of Angela Raspin from a long time, It's impossible to find!

 

[1089maul]

DrG,
I agree with you in respect of Chris Dunning’s book which is probably the best of a number of recent books dealing with the Regis Aeronautica as a whole!
Bob

 

[jwsleser]

Agree about Dunning, an excellent reference. The only shortfall is that the book doesn't list the Gruppi in each Stormo.

 

[DrG]

In looking for the book of Angela Raspin from a long time, It's impossible to find!

There is only a solution: you should borrow it from a public library and photocopy it! I think it's the only choice, given that surely it won't get reprinted. I fear that also Sadkovich's "The Italian Navy in World War 2" (which I haven't listed here because if somebody doesn't care about Italian naval history he can read just "Sea Power" alone) requires the same method. Thanks God, in Italy Sadkovich's book is easily available in its updated Italian translation.

 

[1089maul]

Chris Dunning also wrote the below Combat Units of the Regia Aeronautica which covers the Gruppi and Stormo issue. I have the Sadkovich book in English but have not around to read it fully yet.
Regards to all,
Bob

 

[jwsleser]

Good find. I will need to obtain a copy. A quick check shows that copies are available.

 

[Slavomir]

I am not familiar with Dunning works yet ("Combat units..." is still waiting in line), but I would recommend two other positions on air war in AS:
















Regards

Slawomir

 

[1089maul]

Agreed re Desert Prelude books. I have them both. They are easy to read and have many photographs!
Bob

 

[Special K]

Agree about Dunning, an excellent reference. The only shortfall is that the book doesn't list the Gruppi in each Stormo.

View attachment 831

Hi, Courage Alone does list the Stormo for each Gruppo it discusses in the book. The data is identical to "Combat Units of the Regia Aeronautica" book. But perhaps you wanted a list of Stormo and what Gruppi were in each? I was glad to find Courage Alone because "Combat Units" stops about 2/3 the way through the OB for Gruppi! A Volume 2 was intended but from what I can tell, it was never published. I am currently crunching all of this data into a spreadsheet for my research project.....tedius! But both pieces of work are an absolute GOLD MINE of information.