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  • © 2019

The Italian War on the Eastern Front, 1941–1943

Operations, Myths and Memories

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Offers a groundbreaking study of the overlooked Italian operations on the Eastern Front during World War II
  • Analyzes how dominant memories and narratives of the Italian war in the East were created and circulated during the Cold War
  • Appeals to scholars of military history, World War II, memory studies, and Italian history

Part of the book series: Italian and Italian American Studies (IIAS)

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
  2. Introduction

    • Bastian Matteo Scianna
    Pages 1-18
  3. Historiography: Past Problems and Recent Trends

    • Bastian Matteo Scianna
    Pages 19-37
  4. The guerra fascista—10 June 1940–25 July 1943

    • Bastian Matteo Scianna
    Pages 65-85
  5. The Italian Operations on the Eastern Front (1941)

    • Bastian Matteo Scianna
    Pages 87-117
  6. The Italian Operations on the Eastern Front (1942)

    • Bastian Matteo Scianna
    Pages 119-149
  7. The Battle on the Don, 11 December 1942–31 December 1943

    • Bastian Matteo Scianna
    Pages 151-187
  8. Shaping the Myths: Memoirs, the Army and the Alpini

    • Bastian Matteo Scianna
    Pages 267-292
  9. Contested Memories During the Cold War

    • Bastian Matteo Scianna
    Pages 293-327
  10. Conclusion

    • Bastian Matteo Scianna
    Pages 329-335
  11. Back Matter

    Pages 337-365

About this book

The Italian Army’s participation in Hitler’s war against the Soviet Union has remained unrecognized and understudied. Bastian Matteo Scianna offers a wide-ranging, in-depth corrective. Mining Italian, German and Russian sources, he examines the history of the Italian campaign in the East between 1941 and 1943, as well as how the campaign was remembered and memorialized in the domestic and international arena during the Cold War. Linking operational military history with memory studies, this book revises our understanding of the Italian Army in the Second World War.

Reviews

“Bastian Matteo Scianna’s book is a welcoming addition … . The author’s mission throughout his volume is clear … . The Italian War on the Eastern Front, 1941-1943, Operations, Myths and Memories is a mandatory book that should be on the shelves of those who want to nuance the history of not only the Eastern Front, but the Italian army in the Second World War, going beyond the prejudices of the Operetta Army trope.” (Emanuele Sica, War in History, Vol. 28 (4), 2021)


“... Gemeinsam mit der Gegenüberstellung von Memoirenliteratur, theoretischer Wissenschaftsdiskurse und innenpolitischer Narrative entsteht ein pluralistischer, die wichtigsten und divergenten Blickwinkel umfassender Methodenzugang, der geeignet ist, tradierte Mythen nachhaltig zu dekonstruieren. Scianna hat zweifelsohne einen bedeutenden Beitrag zur Versachlichung der Frage nach dem Wirken italienischer Soldaten an der Front zur Sowjetunion 1941-1943 geleistet, der als eine Landmarke für die nachfolgende Forschung dient.” (Richard Germann, in: Connections, 24. April 2021)

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Bastian Matteo Scianna

About the author

Bastian Matteo Scianna is Assistant Professor at the University of Potsdam, Germany.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access