In the late afternoon of November 13, 1944, General Harold Alexander, commander of the 15th Allied Army Group, broadcast a radio message to the partisans operating behind the German lines: since the Allied advance was bound to be slowed down by rain and mud, patriots needed to prepare for a new phase of armed struggle. Thus began the last winter of the war in Italy. Partisans were obliged to choose between disengaging and surviving or trying to fight the enemy in difficult circumstances. Germans, in the meantime, strove to delay the Allied advance towards the Po Valley. Throughout the winter, fierce guerrilla warfare continued to be waged, as civilians waited for the “dead season” to end. Some were confident in the Allied victory; others feared its consequences. Those tragic months resembled a long night, on which this book finally sheds some light.

Gastone Breccia teaches Byzantine History and Ancient Military History at the University of Pavia.