Italy's First African War (1880-1896) pitted a young and ambitious European nation against the
ancient Empire of Ethiopia. The Least of Europe's Great Powers rashly assailed Africa's most
formidable military power. The outcome was humiliating defeat for Italy and the survival
uniquely for any African nation in the years of the European Scramble for that continent of
Ethiopian independence. Notwithstanding Italy's disastrous first experience in the colonial
fray this book argues that the impact of the war went well beyond the battlefields of the
Ethiopian highlands and reached into the minds of the Italian people at home. Through a
detailed and exhaustive study of Italian popular culture this book asks how far the First
African War impacted on the Italian nation-building project and how far Italians were
themselves changed by undergoing the experience of war and defeat in East Africa. Finaldi
argues for the first time in historiography on the subject that there was substantial support
for and awareness of Italy's military campaign and that 'Empire' as has come to be regarded as
fundamental in the histories of other European countries needs to be brought firmly into the
mainstream of Italian national history. This book is an essential contribution to debates on
the relationship between European national identity and culture and imperialism in the late
19th century.
