On Sale: Mar 17, 2009
Page Count: 352 pages
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN-13: 9780786744381

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The brutal and tragic story of the First World War’s oft-overlooked Italian Front

“A fascinating, indeed brilliant, portrait of a society immolated by its own delusions.” —Max Hastings, New York Review of Books

Named a Book of the Year by Economist • Sunday Times • Sunday Telegraph • Observer • New Statesman • Evening Standard • Scotsman • Irish Times • Guardian • Times Literary Supplement

In May 1915, Italy declared war on the Habsburg Empire, hoping to seize its “lost” territories of Trieste and Tyrol. The result was one of the most hopeless and senseless wars of modern times. Nearly 700,000 Italians and perhaps half as many Austro-Hungarian troops were killed, plunging Italy into chaos and, eventually, fascism.

With great skill and pathos, Mark Thompson tells the story of the nationalist frenzy that preceded the conflict, the haunting landscapes and political intrigues that surrounded it, and the outsize personalities of the statesmen, generals, and writers who were drawn into the hear of chaos. A work of epic scale, The White War reveals the remarkable untold story of the First World War’s Italian Front.

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The Weekly Standard
“[A] study as pioneering as it is brilliant.... Drawing on an impressive array of British, Italian, and Austrian sources, including fascinating interviews with survivors, Thompson re-creates the Italo-Austrian conflict in all its facets…. The White War is the work of a bright young historian proving his mettle.”