LUCK WAS LACKING, BUT VALOR WAS NOT

Presenta un resoconto delle operazioni di terra italiane in Nord Africa, dallo sbarco iniziale per mano della British Western Desert Force all'inizio del 1941, alle battaglie altalenanti del 1941 e del 1942, quando le forze italo-tedesche combatterono contro gli inglesi, passando per la decimazione delle truppe italiane nelle battaglie di El Alamein del 1942, e concludendo con la ritirata in Tunisia e la resa di tutte le forze dell'Asse nel 1943. Prima opera in lingua inglese ad affrontare in modo sistematico i contributi dell'esercito italiano alla campagna nordafricana, contiene ampie appendici che analizzano e confrontano le truppe italiane, britanniche, e tedesche.

---

‘Luck Was Lacking, But Valour Was Not’ begins by examining a number of factors relating to the Italian army’s performance in the desert, including assessments of the Italian soldier, leadership, training, organization and structure, equipment, the supply situation in North Africa, the ability of the Italian air force to support ground operations, and an appreciation of Italo-German relations in North Africa. It then describes the combat operations of Italian forces in the desert beginning with the early advance from Libya into Egypt in September 1940 and ending with the final Italian surrender to the Allies in Tunisia in May 1943. 

The extensive appendices focus on organization and equipment, with tables comparing Italian, British and German armour and artillery in the desert. 

Taken as a whole, this volume presents an account of Italian ground operations in North Africa, from the time of their initial trouncing at the hands of the British Western desert Force in early 1941, through the see-saw battles of 1941 and 1942 when the combined Italo-German forces battled with the British, through the decimation of the Italian forces during the El Alamein battles in late 1942, and finally with the retreat to Tunisia and surrender of all Axis forces there in May 1943. 

‘Luck Was Lacking, But Valour Was Not’ is the first English-language work to address in a systematic way the contributions of the Italian army to the North African campaign and challenges the conventional wisdom that the German Afrika Korps was the pre-eminent Axis force in the desert.