The White War

The White War - Mark Thompson

This book follows the First World War on Italy's north-eastern front, where Italy entered the conflict in May 1915 and sent conscripts against the Habsburg Empire. On the limestone hills north of Trieste, repeated assaults under General Cadorna turned into mass slaughter in a campaign the author presents as both avoidable and decisive for modern Italy.

The front north of Trieste

Thompson focuses on a theatre of war often left in the background, even though a million and a half men died there. The fighting is shown from both sides: Italian troops ordered uphill into fire, and soldiers defending their home regions from invasion.

A war that shaped the century

The conflict is placed in a wider political and cultural frame. It is described as a tragic war that helped give birth to fascism, and one in which Mussolini fought alongside future literary figures such as Ungaretti, Gadda, Musil and Hemingway.

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Inne książki autora: Mark Thompson