Encounters in Wartime Italy: A Social History of Invasion, Liberation, and Occupation

On 10 July 1943, British soldiers landed in south-eastern Sicily as part of a major Allied invasion. As they fought their way northwards through the Italian peninsula, they frequently encountered local populations, imposing a forced cohabitation that would have a lasting impact on both soldiers and civilians. For a long time, attention has focused predominantly on those who perceived their arrival as a liberation, marginalizing the daily realities of the Allied occupation of Italy. At the same time, much has been written about out-of-the-ordinary soldier-civilian encounters behind the enemy lines and the experience of GIs in Italy, which has led to the myth of the American liberation of Italy.

Providing an in-depth study of ordinary encounters between British soldiers and Italian civilians in the context of the Allied invasion, liberation, and occupation of Sicily, Naples, and Rome between 1943 and 1947, Encounters in Wartime Italy aims to rebalance historiographical perspectives, shedding light on the lesser-known point of view of the British and their encounters with Italian civilians. Issues addressed include the evolving perception soldiers and civilians developed of each other, the imbalanced power dynamics between occupiers and occupied, and their complex cohabitation shaped by bartering, work relationships, illicit and violent interactions, and gendered encounters ranging from sexual exploitation to enduring love stories. Drawing on diaries, letters, memoirs, and interviews, as well as British and Italian official records, Fabio Simonetti places soldier-civilian encounters at the heart of his analysis, focusing on the complex social dynamics of Allied-occupied Italy. Encounters in Wartime Italy paints a nuanced portrait of the life and perception of occupiers and occupied, navigating the coexistence of fear, prejudice, and violence with extraordinary instances of resilience, admiration, and gratitude.