"The Battle of Caporetto in October 1917 was an almost catastrophic event for Italy. Eighty years after the event, this book reconsiders the meaning of the battle in the wider framework of the First World War." "As most histories recount, following the Central Powers' breakthrough on the Isonzo front, there followed a huge collapse of the Italian Army, which lost over half its men and materiel. Having suffered such huge losses, Italy was on the brink of total collapse and of leaving the war altogether. Yet, as this book describes, by December 1917, Italy had managed to overcome this crisis and would remain in the conflict. How did it manage to do this against such odds?"--Jacket.