Sign-In
Cart
The War Comes to Africa: Italy's East African Campaign
Paperback
ISBN13: 9789377940386
Publisher: Vij Books
Published: Jul 15 2026
Pages: 246
Weight: 0.74
Height: 0.56 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
In May 1936, Italian troops paraded through Addis Ababa and Benito Mussolini proclaimed a new Roman empire in East Africa. Less than five years later, that empire had been dismantled, its commanders surrendered, and its colonial subjects on a long road toward restored sovereignty. The War Comes to Africa returns to this brief and consequential interval and asks what its rise and collapse actually reveal about modern empire at war. Faridah Osman treats Italy's East African campaign not as a curtain-raiser to greater European battles, but as a decisive theatre in its own right, where ambition met the hard arithmetic of distance, altitude, supply, and consent.
The book moves from Rome's strategic imagination to the highlands and lowlands where it was tested. It examines the composition of Italian forces, the indispensable role of ascari troops, the operational shape of the 1935-36 invasion, the long pacification that never quite succeeded, and the 1941 counter-offensive that converged on the capital from Sudan and Kenya. It treats patriot resistance as a strategic variable rather than background colour, and military logistics as the silent author of operational possibility. It pays close attention to the Mediterranean chokepoint that isolated the theatre, to the air war that wasted away without replacement, and to the multi-national coalition that British command assembled from across the empire. The Italian use of chemical weapons, the reprisals that followed the attempt on Graziani's life, and the symbolic return of Haile Selassie are examined with care and without sentimentality.
Written for students of history, policy readers interested in the limits of expeditionary power, and general readers seeking a serious account of an under-examined campaign, the book argues that colonial warfare in East Africa was undone less by enemy arms than by the structural mismatch between imperial ambition and the conditions it had to master. Readers will come away with a clearer framework for understanding why operational gains can prove fragile, why occupation is harder than conquest, and why African theatres belong at the centre of any serious account of the Second World War and the empires that fought it.
1 different editions
Also available
Also from
Osman, Faridah
Customer First: How to Turn Buyers Into Loyal Fans - Customer retention playbook.
Osman, Faridah
Paperback
Also in
Naval History
Hostage on the Yangtze: Britain, China, and the Amethyst Crisis of 1949
Murfett, Malcolm H.
Hardcover
It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy
Abrashoff, D. Michael
Hardcover
The Last Flight: The Untold Story of the Search for JFK Jr. and the Race Against the Atlantic
Webster, W. Russell
Webster, Theresa M.
Hardcover
The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue
Tougias, Michael J.
Sherman, Casey
Paperback
The Last Stand of Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour
Hornfischer, Estate Of James D.
Hardcover
Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man
Vladic, Sara
Vincent, Lynn
Paperback
Letters to Myself: A Collection of Life Lessons Shared with My Younger Self
Cordle, John P.
Paperback
Ghosts of Panama: A Strongman Out of Control, a Murdered Marine, and the Special Agents Caught in the Middle of an Invasion
Harmon, Mark
Carroll, Leon
Paperback
Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage
Sontag, Sherry
Drew, Christopher
Paperback
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour
Hornfischer, James D.
Paperback
Fighting Fifteen: The Navy's Top Ace and the Deadliest Hellcat Squadron of the Pacific War
Moore, Stephen L.
Hardcover
In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Paperback
Wielding the Trident: Admiral Raymond A. Spruance and America's Victory in the Pacific
Blackley, Andrew K.
Hardcover
Gamble in the Coral Sea: Japan's Offensive, the Carrier Battle, and the Road to Midway
Piegzik, Michal A.
Hardcover
Thunder Below!: The USS *Barb* Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II
Fluckey, Eugene B.
Paperback
Phantom Fleet: The Hunt for Nazi Submarine U-505 and World War II's Most Daring Heist
Rose, Alexander
Hardcover
Annapolis Goes to War: The Naval Academy Class of 1940 and Its Trial by Fire in World War II
Symonds, Craig L.
Hardcover
Ghosts of Panama: A Strongman Out of Control, a Murdered Marine, and the Special Agents Caught in the Middle of an Invasion
Harmon, Mark
Carroll, Leon
Hardcover
Sailing the Graveyard Sea: The Deathly Voyage of the Somers, the U.S. Navy's Only Mutiny, and the Trial That Gripped the Nation
Snow, Richard
Paperback
Mahan on Naval Strategy: Selections from the Writings of Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan
Mahan, Alfred Thayer
Paperback
So Others May Live: Coast Guard's Rescue Swimmers: Saving Lives, Defying Death
Laguardia-Kotite, Martha
Ridge, Tom
Paperback
Erasing the Liberty: The Battle to Keep Alive the Memory of Israel's Massacre on the USS Liberty
Gahary, David R.
Tourney, Phillip F.
Paperback
Holocaust on the High Seas: An Eyewitness Account of Israel's 1967 Attack on the USS Liberty
Tourney, Phillip F.
Paperback
Clash of the Carriers: The True Story of the Marianas Turkey Shoot of World War II
Tillman, Barrett
Paperback
Sailors to the End: The Deadly Fire on the USS Forrestal and the Heroes Who Fought It
Freeman, Gregory A.
Paperback
Samurai!: The Autobiography of Japan's World War II Flying Ace
Saito, Fred
Sakai, Saburo
Caidin, Martin
Paperback
The Death of the USS Thresher: The Story Behind History's Deadliest Submarine Disaster
Polmar, Norman
Paperback
Operation Catapult: Winston Churchill and the British Attack on the French Navy at Mers-El-Kébir
Whiteside, Bill
Hardcover
Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941
Peattie, David
Evans, David C.
Paperback
Japanese Destroyer Captain: Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Midway--The Great Naval Battles as Seen Through Japanese Eyes
Hara, Tameichi
Paperback
Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy and the Birth of Democracy
Hale, John R.
Paperback
Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr.
Stillwell, Paul L., Usnr (Ret ).
Hardcover
The Sailing of the Intrepid: The Incredible Wartime Voyage of the Navy's Iconic Aircraft Carrier
Williams, Montel
Hardcover
Raising the Hunley: The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine
Hicks, Brian
Kropf, Schuyler
Paperback
Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution
Patton, Robert H.
Paperback
A Game of Birds and Wolves: The Ingenious Young Women Whose Secret Board Game Helped Win World War II
Parkin, Simon
Paperback
The Sailing of the Intrepid: The Incredible Wartime Voyage of the Navy's Iconic Aircraft Carrier (Large Print Edition)
Williams, Montel
Fisher, David
Hardcover
A Hoot in Hell's Island: The Heroic Story of World War II Dive Bomber Lt. Cmdr. Robert D. "Hoot" Gibson
Gibson, Robert D.
Warner, Kirk
Hardcover
Escape from the Deep: The Epic Story of a Legendary Submarine and Her Courageous Crew
Kershaw, Alex
Paperback
Mastering the Art of Command: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Victory in the Pacific
Hone, Trent
Paperback
The Last Days of the Schooner America: A Lost Icon at the Annapolis Warship Factory
Gendell, David
Hardcover
Kaga and Akagi: Aircraft Carriers in the Imperial Japanese Navy
Ahlberg, Lars
Lengerer, Hans
Hardcover
Imperial Japanese Navy 1932-1945 Warships and Colours: With Japanese Army Vessels and Three Special Bonus Pages
Wright, Malcolm
Paperback
All Hands on Deck: A Modern-Day High Seas Adventure to the Far Side of the World
Sofrin, Will
Paperback
Give Me a Fast Ship: The Heroic Actions of Ernest Evans and the Crew of USS Johnston
Cutler, Thomas J.
Hardcover
Guardians of the North: Canadian Warships and Maritime Aircraft, 1910-2025
Gimblett, Richard H.
Gagnon, Karl
Hardcover
The Ice Diaries: The True Story of One of Mankind's Greatest Adventures
Anderson, William R.
Paperback
Brain Games - U.S. Navy Word Search - Large Print
Publications International Ltd
Brain Games
Paperback
A Rage to Conquer: Twelve Battles That Changed the Course of Western History
Walsh, Michael
Hardcover
Iron Dawn: The Monitor, the Merrimack, and the Civil War Sea Battle That Changed History
Snow, Richard
Paperback
Devil's Fire, Southern Cross: The Conclusion of the Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign, October 1943-February 1944
Cox, Jeffrey
Hardcover
Italian Adriatic Fleet 1915-18: The Fierce Naval War with Austria-Hungary
Cernuschi, Enrico
Paperback
The Last Shot: The Incredible Story of the C.S.S. Shenandoah and the True Conclusion of the American Civil War
Schooler, Lynn
Paperback
Through the Yellow Visor: The Life and (Mis)Adventures of a US Navy Fighter Pilot
Aiello, E. Vincent Jell-O
Paperback
The Devil's Own Purgatory: The United States Mississippi River Squadron in the Civil War
Gudmestad, Robert H.
Hardcover
Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-Boat Battles of World War II
Werner, Herbert A.
Paperback
No More Napoleons: How Britain Managed Europe from Waterloo to World War One
Lambert, Andrew
Hardcover
Battle of the Atlantic (2): From Operation Drumbeat to the Defeat of the Wolfpacks, 1942-43
Stille, Mark
Paperback
All the Gallant Men: An American Sailor's Firsthand Account of Pearl Harbor
Stratton, Donald
Gire, Ken
Paperback
Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of Theworld
Crowley, Roger
Paperback
Benedict Arnold's Navy: The Ragtag Fleet That Lost the Battle of Lake Champlain But Won the American Revolution
Nelson, James L.
Hardcover
The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945
Hornfischer, James D.
Paperback
Life and Death at Cape Disappointment: Becoming a Surfman on the Columbia River Bar
D'Amelio, Christopher J.
Paperback
This Great Contest Afloat: The Civil War on the Seas, Coastline, Rivers, and Oceans
Chatelain, Neil P.
Paperback
The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece -- And Western Civilization
Strauss, Barry
Paperback
Perilous Fight: America's Intrepid War with Britain on the High Seas, 1812-1815
Budiansky, Stephen
Paperback
Sentinels by the Sea: Coastal Fortifications of Colonial New England and Nova Scotia
Laramie, Michael G.
Hardcover
Revolution on the Hudson: New York City and the Hudson River Valley in the American War of Independence
Daughan, George C.
Paperback
Halsey's Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue
Clavin, Tom
Drury, Bob
Paperback
Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, Fdr's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga Ofher Survivors
Hornfischer, James D.
Paperback
War Beneath the Waves: A True Story of Courage and Leadership Aboard a World War II Submarine
Keith, Don
Paperback
Forgotten Island: The WWII Story of One Sailor's Survival on Japanese-Occupied Guam
Domagalski, John J.
Paperback
Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea
Massie, Robert K.
Paperback
NIS/NCIS San Diego: History Of The Naval Investigative Service And Naval Criminal Investigative Service In The San Diego Region
Sipe Ret, Ncis Special Agent Allan
Paperback