Courage Alone: The Italian Air Force 1940-1943

During World War II, the Allies dismissed the Italian Air Force as hopelessly ineffective when it was not in retreat. Dunning uses original documents and firsthand accounts to argue that the Italian force's shortcomings were not the fault of its airmen, who were no less skilled or determined than their opponents, but the result of such fundamental problems as under-powered aircraft, a poor logistics system, and incompetent leadership.