The Italian Navy and Fascist Expansionism, 1935-1940

ISBN-13: 9780714648781 / Angielski / Twarda / 1998 / 272 str.

Robert Mallett

Opis

Challenging the views of Benito Mussolini's Italian biographer, Renzo De Felice, this book argues that the Duce's aggressive war against the predominant Mediterranean powers, Britain and France, was the only means whereby Italy might secure access to the world's oceans. Following Hitler's rise to power in 1933, Mussolini actively pursued the Italo-German alliance which he believed would enable him to conquer a Fascist empire stretching from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. By the eve of Italy's entry in the world war II, the Fascist administration had commissioned substantial new capital-ship programmes, and created a major surface and underwater fleet that seemed to post a serious challenge to the strategic position of Great Britain in the Mediterranean and Red Sea.

Spis treści

Correra della serra - interview with Robert Mallett (in Italian)



Warships - Winter 99 - an article penned by robert Mallett - see files

also

"This well-argued and researched book has caused a stir in Italy"

Review section of Warships, Winter 99



" this is a well written and widely researched monograph" - Choice, May 1999



Journal of Military History, Vol 64, No 2, April 2000

"Mallett has well researched naval planning in Italian naval archives. However, on the whole the work seems incomlete, its archival reach limited, its assertions at times inadequately documented, and contrary evidence slighted. Nonetheless, Mallett"s study enhances the debate that it does not resolve."



The Marnier"s Mirror

"his meticulous research among sources in two languages has produced an admirable work that makes a quantum leap in the English language understanding of Italy"s position. This book has a very definate place on the shelves of anyone whose interests cover the diplomatice or maritime history of the period

O autorze

Authored by Mallett, Robert