Cernuschi, Enrico The Italian Navy of World War II

The definitive history of its rise and fall

Based on a lifetime of research and featuring hundreds of rare photographs, this book offers an insightful history of the Italian Navy in World War IIthe least known of the war's major navies. By 1940, the Italian Navy had risen to become the fourth largest in the world. Despite financial, strategic, and political challenges in the 1920s and 30s, and despite defeat in the battle for air supremacy, it possessed a powerful fleet, one of the largest submarine fleets in the world, and pursued an ambitious strategic role. Until now, however, few books have attempted a comprehensive study of the Italian Navy in World War II, and many of these works relied on limited or one-sided sources. In this book, Dr. Enrico Cernuschi, one of Italy's foremost naval historians, presents a comprehensive, richly illustrated, and myth-dispelling history of Italian naval power from Mussolini's rise to power to 1945. He draws on primary Italian, British, German, French, and American sources, as well as high-quality documents from his collection, including the recently rediscovered 1947 technical history of the war by the Italian Naval Staff. The book covers a wide range of topics, from strategic planning to steel production, and is filled with historical revelations, new insights, and little-known episodes of naval history. Featuring hundreds of rare and previously unpublished photographs, it is the essential guide to the Italian fleet in World War II and its operations in the Mediterranean and the Pacific.