Italian Troubles – 2nd ed.

The history of the so-called First Italian War of Independence includes a series of dramatic events, starting with the unexpected street fighting during the "Five Days of Milan" in March 1848, through the campaign of the Imperial Army under the command of Field Marshal Josef Radetzky von Radetz, culminating in the Battle of Custoza in July, and ending with the lightning-fast five-day war the following year, when Radetzky's rival, King Charles Albert of Sardinia, was definitively defeated at Novara in March 1849. The detailed account of the campaign and the decisive battles is complemented not only by insightful analyses of the organisation, training, and combat methods of both armies, but also by engaging profiles of the main figures in the conflict. The author does not forget the grim, everyday reality of war, which often affected ordinary soldiers and the local population in equal measure. He also reminds us that men from Bohemia and Moravia were present under the Habsburg banners somewhere in distant Italy, often sealing their oath to the Austrian Emperor with their own blood, even though subsequent generations would forget them for this very reason.