A fascinating study of one of the often overlooked World War II campaigns as British/Commonwealth, Indigenous and Italian forces battled for control of the Horn of Africa.

In mid-1940, Italy’s East African colonies posed a significant threat to the British Empire, and in particular to the flow of supplies through the Red Sea to Egypt. British High Command feared moves from Italian East Africa and so sent reinforcements to its positions in Kenya and Sudan. Thus began a series of clashes across East Africa, with the British attempting to keep the Italians isolated and unable to threaten British supply lines. In March 1941, British theatre commander General Archibald Wavell opted for a lightning campaign to eliminate the Italian threat for good.

Italian military historian Pier Paolo Battistelli provides a fresh account of this campaign, from the initial Italian attacks to the Allied counter-offensive into Eritrea, Ethiopia and Italian Somaliland. Among the actions covered are Addis Ababa, Amba Alagi, Gondar, Tug Argan, and Keren. This work presents an assessment of the forces involved of both sides, including Orde Wingate’s Gideon force, pro-Selassié Ethiopian irregulars and Eritrean and Somalian troops, as well as Indian, South African, British and Italian regular forces. With colourful artwork, detailed maps and diagrams, this book highlights an overlooked World War II campaign and the bloody fight for the Horn of Africa.

This account offers a good account of the campaign from the perspective of both sides and the understanding is greatly helped by a number of excellent maps or schematics of particular battles. This is an excellent starting point to further study. * Flypast Magazine *
a fascinating study of one of the often-overlooked World War II campaigns * Military Modelcraft International *
The author clearly has an in-depth knowledge of the Italian side in the campaign. * Army Rumour Service *

Dr Pier Paolo Battistelli is a military history scholar and researcher with a special interest in the Axis powers in World War II. A freelance author and consultant, he has previously written and co-written several titles for Osprey, including two recent Campaign series titles on the Balkans 1940–41. He has also authored several entries for the Oxford Bibliographies in Military History, edited by Dennis Showalter.