Air Campaign- The Italian Blitz 1940-43

Right from the beginning of the Second World War, Italy was seen vulnerable to Allied counterattack. Moreover, Mussolini's regime was seen as subject to internal discontent and loss of morale, which might be inflamed by RAF bombing. The book describes the RAF attacks on the northern Italian cities such as Genoa, Milan, and especially Turin. It describes the effects on industrial production, damage to factories, and the political effects on the Italian people and on the government leadership. This was probably the only strategic bombing campaign in WW II in which the morale of the people was severely shaken. It wasn't so much the damage that was done or the deaths of civilians in the targeted cities that were so demoralizing. It was the demonstrated inability of the Italian fascist government to defend the cities and people that did it. The narrative asks some good questions while presenting a balanced view of the campaign. The text is helped along with lots of period photographs and modern maps, illustrations, and battle diagrams. Well recommended to the student of the conflict.