The Italian Army and the First World War

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 within a broader context, the book explores pre-war Italian military culture and the interactions between domestic politics, economics and society. In a unique study of an unjustly neglected facet of the war, John Gooch illustrates how General Luigi Cadorna, a brutal disciplinarian, drove the army to the edge of collapse, and how his successor, general Armando Diaz, rebuilt it and led the Italians to their greatest victory in modern times.

Introduction; 1. Before the war; 2. From neutrality to action; 3. 1915 - first endeavours; 4. 1916 - setback and success; 5. 1917 - the year of danger; 6. 1918 - recovery and victory; 7. In the wake of war; Notes; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.

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 within a broader context, the book explores pre-war Italian military culture and the interactions between domestic politics, economics and society. In a unique study of an unjustly neglected facet of the war, John Gooch illustrates how General Luigi Cadorna, a brutal disciplinarian, drove the army to the edge of collapse, and how his successor, general Armando Diaz, rebuilt it and led the Italians to their greatest victory in modern times.

John Gooch is Emeritus Professor of International History, University of Leeds, and Honorary Professor of History, University of Kent. As well as serving at the Universities of Lancaster (1969–92) and Leeds (1992–2010), he has held appointments as Secretary of the Navy Senior Research Fellow at the United States Naval War College and Visiting Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University. He was the founding Chairman of the Army Records Society and served as Joint Editor of the Journal of Strategic Studies for twenty-five years. In 2011 he was appointed Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarieta' Italiana for services to Italian military history.