The Italian Expeditionary Forces on the Eastern Front

This work, follows up on the authors' earlier "Luck Was Lacking, But Valor Was Not" in furthering development of a more nuanced view of the role of the Italian armed forces in the Second World War.

We get a very comprehensive account of Italian operations against the Soviet Union, within the larger war. The authors open with a very good analysis of the reasoning behind Mussolini's decision to send troops to support the German invasion of Russia. They cover in some detail the composition of the initial expeditionary corps, and then the larger army that followed, demonstrating that, despite claims that Hitler didn't want Italian participation, he was very happy to have it.

The authors provide details on unit organization, weapons, and training, and offer profiles of many officers and some of the troops, naturally stressing the Italian side. There's a lot of material on planning, troop movements, and operations. They also offer a good deal of tactical detail on many actions, at times literally at the front lines, making use of eyewitness accounts and personal memoirs, as well as official reports, showing the Italian troops usuallyfought hard and well.  We also get to see how during planning German commanders regularly disregarded the views of Italian – and other allied – commanders on the military situation at all levels, as well as the needs, capabilities, and limitations, of their allies, often leading to unfortunate consequences, which were then blamed on their allies. For example, in perhaps the most grievous case, how the panicked German reaction to the onset of the Soviet counteroffensive November 19, 1942 at Stalingrad left the allied armies bereft of reserves.

While the authors concentrate on ground operations, actions by Italian naval and air forces are covered in appendices, and there's even coverage of Croat and Cossack units attached to Italian troops.

The book has some drawbacks, most notably it glosses over Axis atrocities, though mentions some Soviet ones. In addition it could use more reference notes, and desperately needs an index.

Despite these limitations, Snow, Ice and Sacrifice is an important contribution to the literature in English on the Italian Army.

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