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The Bad German and the Good Italian

Removing the Guilt of the Second World War

Filippo Focardi author Dr Paul Barnaby translator

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Manchester University Press

Published:29th Aug '23

Should be back in stock very soon

The Bad German and the Good Italian cover

In the Axis War on the side of Germany, Mussolini's Italy was responsible for serious war crimes, especially in Yugoslavia and Greece. This 'dark side' of the fascist war, however, is not present in the national memory built after 1945. To distinguish Italy from the former German ally and avoid a punitive peace, the monarchist and anti-fascist ruling classes elaborated a master narrative that highlighted the opposition of the Italian people to Mussolini's war and the humanitarian behavior of Italian soldiers, depicted as saviors of Jews. All responsibility for the crimes committed in the Axis war was placed on the shoulders of the Germans, who thus became a convenient alibi for the national conscience.

ISBN: 9781526157133

Dimensions: 216mm x 138mm x 21mm

Weight: 549g

352 pages