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Mussolini\'s War: Fascist Italy from Triumph to Collapse: 1935-1943 is a remarkable new history from John Gooch, evoking the centrality of Italy to World War II. Outlining the brief rise and triumph of the Fascists, followed by the disastrous fall of the Italian military campaign.

While staying closely aligned with Hitler, Mussolini remained carefully neutral until the summer of 1940. At that moment, with the wholly unexpected and sudden collapse of the French and British armies, Mussolini declared war on the Allies in the hope of making territorial gains in southern France and Africa. This decision proved a horrifying miscalculation, dooming Italy to its own prolonged and unwinnable war, immense casualties, and an Allied invasion in 1943 that ushered in a terrible new era for the country.

John Gooch is one of the world\'s leading writers on Italy and the two world wars. His books include Mussolini and His Generals and The Italian Army and the First World War. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Leeds. In 2010 the President of Italy appointed him Cavaliere dell\'Ordine della Stella della Solidarieta\' Italiana. John lives in England.