The Best Greco-Italian War Books of All Time

The first of two volumes on the Axis campaigns in the Balkans, exploring Mussolini's fateful decision to move against Greece in October 1940. The Greek President Metaxas rejected the Italian ultimatum with a famous 'Oxi' ('No'), and what followed was Italy's first debacle in World War II. In the wake of Italy's rapid annexation of Albania in April 1940, Mussolini's decision to attack Greece in October that year is widely acknowledged as a fatal mistake, leading to a domestic crisis and to the collapse of Italy's reputation as a military power (re-emphasized by the Italian defeat in North Africa in December 1940).

The Italian assault on Greece came to a stalemate in less than a fortnight, and was followed a week later by a Greek counter-offensive that broke through the Italian defences before advancing into Albania, forcing the Italian forces to withdraw north before grinding to a half in January 1941 due to logistical issues. Eventually, the Italians took advantage of this brief hiatus to reorganize and prepare a counteroffensive, the failure of which marked the end of the first stage of the Axis Balkan campaign. The first of two volumes examining the Axis campaigns in the Balkans, this book offers a detailed overview of the Italian and Greek armies, their fighting power, and the terrain in which they fought. Complimented by rarely seen images and full color illustrations, it shows how expectations of an easy Italian victory quickly turned into one of Mussolini's greatest blunders.

In October and November 1940 an Italian army some 200,000 strong invaded Greece across the largely undefended Albanian border. Although supported by Great Britain, at first by sea and in the air and later by landing British and ANZAC troops from North Africa, Greece bore the main burden of the six-month war. Although greatly outnumbered, LtGen Papagos's Greek army was so successful against the Italians in northwest Greece that by November 22, it was advancing into Albania. This forced Hitler to send in German reinforcements to support his Italian allies, delaying his upcoming invasion of the Soviet Union.

Complete with contemporary photographs and full-color uniform plates, this fascinating study explores the history, organization, and appearance of the armies of this oft forgotten conflict during World War II.

A day-by-day account of the Greco-Italian war : Mussolini's ill-timed and ill-planned military adventure in Greece in 1940-1941.