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This is a very nice, complete example of the heavily illustrated Nazi publication Die Wehrmacht Italiens (Italy’s Armed Forces) by Hermann Meyer-Ricks as published by Verlag Die Wehrmacht of Berlin in 1940. Author Lieutenant Colonel Meyer-Ricks was in charge of several battalions of African native volunteers in the Afrikakorps and died on 23 February 1943 in Tunis in North Africa as a result of an Allied air attack.

After a short introduction about post-World War I Italy and its “soldier savior” Benito Mussolini, this rare 1940 Nazi publication starts with a chapter about the power of Rome through the centuries. The next chapters cover the Italian Army, the Italian Air Force, the Italian Navy, the Fascist Militia and “citizen soldiers” (Cittadino-Soldato - the Italian equivalent of the Nazi Volkssturm), as well as the Italian quest for Lebensraum and the creation of the modern Italian Empire. The last chapter is called the “Mutual Way Forward of Germany and Italy”.

The 5-¾ x 8-¼ inch, 64-page softcover book contains very rare photos by Heinrich Hoffmann, Weltbild, Scherl Verlag, Associated Press as well as maps and illustrations of Italian weapons, insignia, uniforms, field gear, etc.

This original 81 year old example of Die Wehrmacht Italiens is complete and in very nice, little-used condition. No writing, no odor.