Yes, he does seem to have nothing but scorn for Italy, calling the Fascists "amateurs" who "didn't know what they were doing" and all that. While Italy did tend to the improvised and provisional, and while there was certainly more bravado than substance, I think that Taylor fails to credit Italy for the way that it left its mark on politics in the 1920s and 1930s, and how popular Mussolini was (inside and outside Italy).
Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
A.J.P. Taylor, The Origins of the Second World War
- 11/05/2011 04:55:49 PM
1123 Views
Interesting - I'm about two thirds of the way through it at the moment
- 11/05/2011 05:18:36 PM
605 Views
"Great minds think alike" or "Fools seldom differ"?
- 11/05/2011 08:03:52 PM
622 Views
I always fear the latter
- 12/05/2011 12:12:29 AM
626 Views
Ah, this reminds me of the old jokes
- 12/05/2011 04:58:07 AM
615 Views
Italian army rifle for sale...
- 12/05/2011 10:22:50 AM
681 Views
I was forced a few years back in a discussion on wotmania to look into Italy in WW1.
- 12/05/2011 10:20:29 PM
811 Views
Is it an academic work?
- 11/05/2011 05:23:11 PM
580 Views
This is a pain in the ass...
- 11/05/2011 10:31:09 PM
806 Views
I've heard Pat Buchanan talking about his book and wondered about it
- 11/05/2011 11:16:03 PM
723 Views
Re: I've heard Pat Buchanan talking about his book and wondered about it
- 12/05/2011 12:47:50 PM
729 Views