For Love and Country

During World War II resistance movements arose in all countries occupied by fascist and Nazi forces. Many people are startled to learn that there was a resistance movement in Italy. Most accounts by American scholars concentrate on the resistance in Central and Northern Italy and summarily dismiss the South. For Love and Country has as it's focus the resistance movement in Lazio and in particular Rome. The author, Patrick Gallo, argues that a well-organized and mass-based resistance movement developed in Lazio. He contends that the Rome-based resistance not only undermined German morale but also achieved important strategic objectives. This study is based on a series of in-depth interviews with the men and women who took part in the resistance in Lazio. Gallo analyzes the motivation of those who joined the resistance and their political, military and strategic roles in the movement. With the drama of war and Nazi occupation as a backdrop, the author paints a vivid picture of the life of a partisan.