Wars may be examined on many levels. On the grandest scale one can see them as the movements of masses of troops across a map with arrows and denotations of decisive battles. With a finer lens one can attempt to comprehend wars from the statements of national leaders or the strategic feints, thrusts, and parries of generals who order individual units across the battlefield. As valuable as these frames are in seeking to understand the reality of war, it is only by adding the perspectives of the individual soldiers that one can try to complete a thorough portrait of human conflict. That most critical and fine of lenses is the focus of this book. This is the story of World War II from the individual soldier's view as told by the men who fought for Italy on the Axis side and finished the conflict as prisoners of war (POWs). Through their accounts readers see the war as they experienced it.

This book brings together historians from Great Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Canada, Austria, and Latvia who have worked and published on fraternisation between Prisoners of War and local women during either the First or Second World War, providing the first comparative study of this multi-faceted phenomenon in different belligerent countries. By focusing on prisoners as wartime migrants and studying the nature and impact of their interactions with the local female population, this book expands the existing framework on prisoner of war studies. Its substantial scope and comparative approach make it an important point of reference in the growing research field of POW studies.

There is a popular notion that the Italian armed forces of the Second World War were an inferior fighting force. Despite the vast numbers taken prisoner, detailed studies of the experiences of these soldiers remain relatively uncommon and the value of this group to furthering our understanding of the Italian experience of war under Fascism is also rarely acknowledged. The existence in the National Archives of hundreds of pages of transcripts of covert British surveillance of Italian POWs has made it possible to engage with their experiences and opinions in much greater depth. The euphemistically termed ‘Special Reports’ present historians with a unique insight into how all levels of Italian soldiery viewed Fascist Italy’s experience of war, 1940-1943. This book examines reactions to Italian political leadership, the progress of the war, as well as Italian soldiers’ ‘everyday’ views on sex, war, the enemy, death, food, their allies, bravery, race, and killing. These fascinating documents reveal the complexity of the outlook of these men, which persistent – and influential – national stereotypes and historiographical trends fail to acknowledge.

Controlling Sex in Captivity is the first book to examine the nature, extent and impact of the sexual activities of Axis prisoners of war in the United States during the Second World War. Historians have so far interpreted the interactions between captors and captives in America as the beginning of the post-war friendship between the United States, Germany and Italy. Matthias Reiss argues that this paradigm is too simplistic. Widespread fraternisation also led to sexual relationships which created significant negative publicity, and some Axis POWs got caught up in the U.S. Army's new campaign against homosexuals. By focusing on the fight against fraternisation and same-sex activities, this study treads new ground. It stresses that contact between captors and captives was often loaded with conflict and influenced by perceptions of gender and race. It highlights the transnational impact of fraternisation and argues that the prisoners' sojourn in the United States also influenced American society by fuelling a growing concern about social disintegration and sexual deviancy, which eventually triggered a conservative backlash after the war.

Orkney's Italian Chapel was built by Italian POWs held on the island during the Second World War. In the sixty-five years since it was built it has become an enduring symbol of peace and hope around the world. The story of who built the chapel and how it came into existence and survived against all the odds is both fascinating and inspiring. Author Philip Paris's extensive research into the creation of the Italian Chapel has uncovered many new facts, and this comprehensive new book is the definitive account of the chapel and those who built it. It is a book that has waited to be written for sixty-five years.

Interned in a camp in the Texas panhandle, more than 3,000 Italian POWs spent the last years of World War II an ocean away from their family and friends. A handful of men in camp were artists, and it was this small group of prisoners who struck a deal with the priest of a nearby Catholic church. In exchange for a home-cooked meal each noon, the artists agreed to decorate the plain church with murals and carvings. This compassionate story of courage and kindliness is as enduring as the artwork that still graces the walls of a modest Catholic church in a tiny Texas town.

1943. New Orleans. Rose Marino lives with her Sicilian immigrant parents and helps in the family grocery store. Her older brother and sister both joined the Army, and Rose prays for their safety as World War II rages overseas. Her parents expect Rose to marry a local boy and start a family. But she secretly dreams of being more like her fiercely independent widowed godmother. Behind her parents’ back, Rose lands a job at the shipyard, where she feels free and important for the first time in her life. When the parish priest organizes a goodwill mission to visit Italian prisoners of war at a nearby military base, Rose and her vivacious best friend, Marie, join the group. There, Rose falls for Sal, a handsome and intelligent POW. Italy has switched sides in the war, so the POWs are allowed out to socialize, giving Rose and Sal a chance to grow closer. When Rose gets a promotion at work, she must make an agonizing choice: follow a traditional path like Marie or keep working after the war and live on her own terms. Inspired by little-known historical events and set to a swing-era soundtrack, The Italian Prisoner is an engrossing story of wartime love, family secrets, and a young woman’s struggle to chart her own course at an inflection point in American history. Book Review 1: “The repercussions of WWII are lovingly rendered through one woman’s story, with an endearing cast of characters who all feel like family by the end.”—LALITA TADEMY, New York Times best-selling author of Oprah’s Book Club pick Cane River, Red River, and Citizens Creek Book Review 2: "… an essential contribution to the treasure trove of Italian American fiction and a transporting page-turner. I want everyone in my family to meet Rose, our inspiring heroine, whose extraordinary story will stay with me for a long time." –CHRISTOPHER CASTELLANI, author of Leading Men Book Review 3: “… intimate historical fiction at its page-turning best.”—PAMELA ROTNER SAKAMOTO, author of Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Family Caught Between Two Worlds Book Review 4: “… a compelling mix of freshness and familiarity, using a female rites-of-passage narrative to transport readers to 1940s New Orleans and to bring alive the timeless challenges of living in a nation at war.”—ANN HAGEDORN, award-winning author of Beyond the River, Savage Peace, Sleeper Agent and more Book Review 5: “… a refreshing addition to the historical women’s fiction bookshelf.”—KAIA ALDERSON, author of Sisters in Arms Book Review 6: “A dazzling World War II love story set in New Orleans that will pull you in from the very first paragraph.”—JENNIFER SMITH TURNER, award-winning author of Child Bride, named the Best eBook of 2020 by the Black Caucus of The American Library Association Book Review 7: “… a beautiful book that will touch anyone who ever dared want more out of life.” —CHARLES FORREST JONES, author of The Illusion of Simple Book Review 8: "The author's keen eye for the history of those years are evident as delightful details of the city at war abound.”—BRIAN ALTOBELLO, author of Whiskey, Women, and War: How the Great War Shaped Jim Crow New Orleans Book Review 9: “With true-to-life family dynamics and the drama of first love, the author invites us to take a passeggiata alongside her heroine Rose.”—SHAUNNA J. EDWARDS, co-author of The Thread Collectors Book Review 10: “… compelling, atmospheric, and refined. A truly magnificent read.” —DIANNE C. BRALEY, author of The Silence in the Sound