The Other Italy, The Italian Resistance in World War II, by Maria de Blasio Wilhelm

Length: 272 pages, counting index

This book is an overview of the freedom fighters in Italy after their surrender in Sept. 1943, and the various angles which people used to fight the Germans and their Fascist cohorts.

Wilhelm starts with a recap of how Mussolini got Italy into WWII, and those who were already against him, from the Left and the Center, and how people risked everything to get opponents of the regime out of the country. She then gives us the story of "The Four Days of Naples," where the people, with little more than their wits and a few guns and firebombs, tried to harass the Germans and prevent them from demolishing the city before the Americans could come in late 1943.

She goes on to resistance cells in various parts of the country, from the Piedmont to the cities, and the role of women in both passing messages and organizing armed groups. She also details stories of the clergy trying to help in many ways, and the plight of the Jews, who were mostly escapees from Germany, and how the people helped hide them, and some taking up the fight themselves.

We finish up with the various resistance movements coalescing into a Committee of National Liberation, coordinating uprisings against the Germans in the great cities of the North, and the capture and execution of Mussolini. There is also the political role played by the various resisters in the formation of post-war governments.

This is a solid if unspectacular effort, but one that can be appreciated for the effort Wilhelm put into tracking down people and getting the photos.

I rate this at 3 stars.

 

..seems like this is just the kind of book like to read = the ''less popular'' front.....the Italians and Italian complicated views of the war....etc