Italian Soft-Skinned Vehicles of the Second World War Volume 1: Motorcycles, Cars, Trucks, Artillery Tractors...

— —

Daniele Guglielmi Mario Pieri

Italian Soft-Skinned Vehicles of the Second World War Volume 1

Motorcycles, Cars, Trucks, Artillery Tractors 1935-1945

Daniele Guglielmi, Mario Pieri, Ralph Riccio

$65

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Helion & Company
02 November 2023

Military vehicles

The importance of land transport vehicles within an armed force is often underestimated by the average reader, attracted by more 'martial' subjects such as tanks and artillery. Nevertheless, it was thanks to motorcycles, cars, trucks and tractors that since the early years of the twentieth century men, weapons, ammunition, provisions, fuel, equipment, orders were transported, all elements without which AFVs, guns and infantry are unable to fight.

In this book we focus on the means of transport in force in the Italian Royal Army (and, in some cases, also in the Italian Royal Air Force and Navy) from the 1930s to the end of the Second World War. Little has been said about them in recent years, even in Italy, with some exceptions such as the Guzzi Alce motorcycle, the Fiat 508 CM car, the Fiat 626/666 and Lancia 3Ro trucks, and a few light and medium tractors.

It is common opinion that the Italian Army was beaten above all because of the poor quality of its combat vehicles. Actually, impartial and in-depth studies made since shortly after the end of the war, have revealed that the main problem was the shortage of vehicles, as well as an entirely insufficient logistics chain. The tank crews were able to compensate with bravery and experience for the fact that their tanks were, from a certain point on, inferior to those of their enemies, but the inadequate number of AFVs and other material was impossible to remedy. The same problem plagued the entire sector of military soft-skinned vehicles, a sign of Italy's limited industrial capacity (and rather of procurement of raw materials and components) compared, for example, to its ally Germany. There were too few factories, too few skilled workers and poor management skills within the armed forces.

However, if quantity was lacking, the same cannot be said for quality. Many models of efficient, robust and resistant vehicles were produced, especially in the sector of the so-called 'standardised' motor vehicles, such as those mentioned at the beginning and others that we will see. These vehicles allowed the Italian troops to move and fight in the large and difficult territories of North Africa, the Balkans and the Soviet Union and which brought home what was left of the defeated soldiers.

This is the first English-language study describing the soft-skinned vehicles of the Italian Armed Forces, starting from the 1930s, in which Mussolini's Italy faced some colonial conflicts and participated - albeit unofficially - in the Spanish Civil War, until throughout the Second World War. For each vehicle there is a file describing its evolution and the main technical aspects, accompanied by one or more photographs and, for the most significant examples, line drawings. The work is enriched by a historical introduction, various appendices and colour profiles.

334 b/w photos & illustrations, 7 colour photos & illustrations, 6 colour profiles

By: Daniele Guglielmi, Mario Pieri, Ralph Riccio
Imprint: Helion & Company
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 297mm, Width: 211mm,
ISBN: 9781804513279
ISBN 10: 180451327X
Pages: 152
Publication Date: 02 November 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Mario Pieri is an Italian engineer, born in 1962 in Florence and currently resides in Rome. Always a military history researcher, focused on the military technology, Mario has used scale modelling primarily as an associative and educational medium. Actively publishing since the 1980s, his current pursuits are research, editing, and translations. Ralph Riccio was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and is a retired US Army officer who has been interested in military history and military equipment since his youth. He has written and co-authored a number of books on Italian small arms, armor and artillery, as well as several books on aspects of Irish military history. He has also written numerous magazine articles both in English and Italian dealing with a broad spectrum of military subjects. He has a native Italian language fluency, speaks several other languages as well, and is active in translating books and magazine articles from Italian into English for Italian authors who specialize in military affairs. In 1981 he was awarded an honorary Italian knighthood. He lives with his wife Charlene in a rural community in Pennsylvania.

Reviews for Italian Soft-Skinned Vehicles of the Second World War Volume 1: Motorcycles, Cars, Trucks, Artillery Tractors 1935-1945

"""Very solid wartime photos of some quite rare vehicles, terrifically well done drawings, loads of technical data, informative and easily read text.""-- ""AMPS"""