Introduction

Abstract

Although the 50th anniversary of World War II led to some noteworthy new publications it could be argued that, in terms of the historiography in Italian, the cinquantennale represented something of a missed opportunity. This would appear not to be the case with the 60th anniversary, which has led to the publication of a great deal of innovative and impressive research, much of which is based on archival material. In most cases new research has not been the result of sensational discoveries, but the fruit of long years of research in existing archives. This special issue of Modern Italy aims to reflect the vibrant state of current scholarship by bringing together adaptations of six papers delivered at the 2005 Association for the Study of Modern Italy conference dedicated to the theme of ‘Italy at War, 1935–2005’, together with a seventh article by Philip Cooke. The articles reflect the broad thematic interests of the conference (see Modern Italy, vol. 11, no. 3, 2006 for a detailed conference report) as well as its chronological span.