The Generalissimo

Marco Mondini is Associate Professor in History of Conflicts at the University of Padua. His recent publications include Il ritorno della guerra. Combattere, uccidere, morire in Italia (1861-2022), Roma 1922. Il fascismo e la guerra mai finita, The Mediatization of War and Peace (as co-editor with C. Cornelissen) and Fiume 1919. Una guerra civile italiana.

• Introduction: forgetting Cadorna; Part I. The Ascent: 1. The force of destiny; 2. 'That most imperfect military organization': the army in Cadorna's time; 3. Waiting for war; Part II. The Enigma of Consensus: 4. Preparing for war; 5. The real thing; 6. Man management; Part III. The Downfall: 7. At Cadorna's court; 8. Caporetto according to Cadorna: a moral autobiography of the Italians; Conclusion: The Memoir Battle.

'Marco Mondini's study of Luigi Cadorna The Generalissimo is an absorbing portrait of a long- neglected but central figure in the story of the 1914–18 war. Mondini shows us how background, culture and inheritance shaped a complex persona, how personality translated into a harsh and inflexible command style, and how Cadorna, an idol on a self-made pedestal, presided unchecked over a bloody and largely fruitless slogging match for more than two years before crashing to defeat and humiliation. Wide in perspective and rich in insights, this model military biography will be essential reading for all students of the Great War.' John Gooch, University of Leeds