Little Italy in the Great War

Richard N. Juliani is Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, at Villanova University and was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the former President of the American Italian Historical Association, and the author of Priest, Parish and People: Saving the Faith in Philadelphia’s Little Italy and Building Little Italy: Philadelphia’s Italians Before Mass Migration.

"Juliani offers the fullest account yet of the transatlantic politics of military recruitment and its impact on Italian communities. Readers are much in his debt for this, the most valuable new research in this book.... Little Italy in the Great War offers a rich chronicle of Philadelphia's Italian community as it was situated in the city, in the nation, and in a world at war."-Italian American Review "Scholars of World War I, ethnic history, and gender will find this book useful. While the book centers primarily on World War I and ethnic history, Juliani’s examination of Italian American women’s efforts during the war also advances the current understanding of immigrant women during the Great War. Little Italy in the Great War provides key insights about the home front and immigrant experience in the United States."-Journal of American Ethnic History "Juliani describes the impact of World War I on our city’s Italian community, then the second largest in America. Through individual stories gleaned from period sources, Juliani puts human faces on existential choices about home, loyalty, and belonging.... Juliani’s almost granular treatment of his subject reflects his personal connection and the quality of his sources."-Broad Street Review "Juliani provides an admirably researched microhistory that explores how Philadelphia’s Italian Americans responded to the demands of World War I.... Juliani’s publication makes a very strong contribution to the study of Philadelphia’s social history in the early 20th century. He deepens our understanding of how the Great War shaped Italian ethnic identity as immigrants and their children began to amalgamate within a wider American community."-Pennsylvania Heritage "[A]n exhaustive account of how the city's Italian immigrants were affected by World War I and how they perceived their immigrant status while maintaining strong ties to their native country.... [An] enlightening and well-researched book."-The Delaware Valley Italian-American Herald