A Soldier on the Southern Front, is a new translation of Emilio Lussu's memoirs of his experiences on the Alpine front (Asiago). Originally published in the 1930s as Un Anno Sull'Altipiano (A year on the altipiano), and translated into in English in 1939 as Sardinian Brigade (reprinted 1968). Neither of the title translations make much sense to me, as the Asiago front was more like Italy's northern front (compared to the Isonzo front where most of the action took place).
It's a classic work of Italian and WW1 literature. It's told more as a series of stories rather than a single narrative, and the author changed some of the units and names around. It's a bit short, but a good read, and I recommend it for anyone who is interested in seeing the war from the view point of someone on the front lines. Although it is somewhat atypical, both because the nature of the Sassari Brigade (recruited entirely from Sardinia), and the fact that the front was considered a secondary one and was not as well supported as the Isonzo front. Nevertheless it's a fascinating read.
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In 1970 a movie was made that was based on the book -- Uomini Contro (I translate that as "Against Humanity"). It takes the events in the book out of order to make a different narrative, simplifies some of the events, and combines some characters together, etc. As usual not as good as the book, but there's not many movies out there about Italy in WW1, and this one is in color!
It has been remastered and is being released under the English title Many Wars Ago (for some reason), in Italian with English subtitles. The DVD version is in 4:3 ratio -- I didn't notice any awkward pan-and-scan, but the original was widescreen.
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adds an infantry platoon to his WWI Brits.
