| Edition |
First Harper Perennial edition. |
| Description |
xxiv, 390 pages : illustrations, maps ; 21 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Preface -- Part One: The fall of Italy. A Roman coup -- Interlude -- Bursting into life -- A war zone -- Making lions -- The piccoli geni -- A little woman -- Part Two: A year of fire. Heedless -- The hunters and the hunted -- A lizard among the rocks -- Nesting in kitchens -- Summer of flames -- Haunted by death -- Learning to live better -- Part Three: Liberation. Mothers of the resistance -- Squashing the cockroaches -- Insurrection -- Bloodletting -- A love of forgetting -- Afterword. |
| Summary |
"In the late summer of 1943, when Italy changed sides in WWII and the Germans, now their enemies, occupied the north of the country, an Italian Resistance was born. Ada, Frida, Silvia and Bianca were four young Piedmontese women who joined the Resistance, living secretively in the mountains surrounding Turin. They were not alone. Between 1943 and 1945, as the Allies battled their way north, thousands of men and women throughout occupied Italy rose up and fought to liberate their country from the German invaders and their Fascist collaborators. What made the partisan war all the more extraordinary was the number of women in its ranks. The bloody civil war that ensued across the country pitted neighbour against neighbour, and brought out the best and worst in Italian society. The courage shown by the partisans was exemplary, and eventually bound them together as a coherent fighting force. And the women's contribution was invaluable--they fought, carried messages and weapons, provided safe houses, laid mines and took prisoners. Ada's house deep in the mountains became a meeting place and refuge for many of them. The death rattle of Mussolini's two decades of Fascist rule--with its corruption, greed and anti-Semitism--was unrelentingly violent and brutal, but for the partisan women it was also a time of camaraderie and equality, pride and optimism. They would prove, to themselves and to the world, what resolve, tenacity and above all exceptional courage could achieve."-- Provided by publisher |
| Subject |
Women -- Italy -- Biography.
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Women political activists -- Italy -- Biography.
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Women soldiers -- Italy -- Biography.
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Anti-fascist movements -- Italy -- History -- 20th century.
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Women and war -- Italy -- History -- 20th century.
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Women in war -- Italy -- History -- 20th century.
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Women political activists -- Italy -- History -- 20th century.
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Italy -- History -- Allied occupation, 1943-1947.
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Italy -- History -- German occupation, 1943-1945.
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Anti-fascist movements. (OCoLC)fst00810329
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Women. (OCoLC)fst01176568
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Women and war. (OCoLC)fst01177123
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Women in war. (OCoLC)fst01178052
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Women political activists. (OCoLC)fst01178374
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Women soldiers. (OCoLC)fst01178559
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Italy. (OCoLC)fst01204565
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Allied Occupation of Italy (Italy : 1943-1947) (OCoLC)fst01351652
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German Occupation of Italy (Italy : 1943-1945) (OCoLC)fst01353177
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| Chronological Term |
1900-1999
|
| Genre/Form |
Biography. (DNLM)D019215
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Biographies. (OCoLC)fst01919896
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History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
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Biographies.
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| ISBN |
9780062686374 (paperback) |
|
0062686372 (paperback) |
|
