“Saini Fasanotti earned a PhD at the University of Milan and is a senior visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington, DC. This is her fifth book, here translated (with only a few anomalies) from the Italian by Sylwia Zawadzka. Based on Saini Fasanotti's ten years of study in Italian archives and on-the-ground research, Vincere! provides original insights that even now will be of interest to those responsible for these regions. It serves as an example of applied history that can be a practical tool to inform policy, tactics, procedures, and techniques in more-contemporary operations.” —U.S. Naval War College

“Written by an Italian and based on hitherto-unavailable sources, Vincere! describes how the Italians ‘did not hesitate to employ all the resources available’ against insurgents, including airpower and poison gas drops. Within are valuable lessons in how a counterinsurgency should, and should not, be carried out.” —HistoryNet

“Vincere! is a useful read for anyone interested in the history of counter-insurgency of Italian military institutions in the inter-war period.” —StrategyPage

“This book provides a detailed examination of Italian counterinsurgency strategy.“ —The Strategy Bridge

“An impressive work of extensively detailed and documented scholarship, Vincere!: The Italian Royal Army's Counterinsurgency Operations in Africa 1922–1940 is a unique and exceptionally informative military history that is unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library military history collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, military buffs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject.” —Midwest Book Review

“The book in an agile and extremely enjoyable way examines and dissects every aspect of the two counterinsurgency experiences with lessons still current and that were applied in other wars of decolonization (or not applied, with bad results for the countries involved), and which also provide today material of study for the military and historian.” —On the Old Barbed Wire

“Packed with timeless lessons, no other account rivals this skillful dissection of Italian counterinsurgency in Africa. Dr. Fasanotti’s rigorously researched gem is now the standard, revealing as it does the human factors and strategies that dominate war.” —General Jim Mattis, USMC (Ret.), United States Secretary of Defense, 2017 to 2018

“For her book Vincere, Dr. Federica Saini Fasanotti picked out one of the most difficult moments in contemporary Italian military history and relentlessly and perfectly illuminated the Italian attacks on Libya and Ethiopia (Abyssinia). She has also compiled and evaluated the considerable costs for both sides. As a reader, you can feel her many years of experience in the field of counterinsurgency warfare and the passion with which she devotes herself to this topic. It is a must for anyone concerned with counterinsurgency.” —German Gen. Wolf Langheld, commander, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Allied Joint Force Command (JFC)

“The extensive and in-depth work done by Dr. Fasanotti on the Italian army’s colonial counterinsurgency operations in Africa in the twenties and thirties deserves our utmost appreciation. It is of great credit to Dr. Fasanotti to have brought these facts and lessons back to our attention. She deserves our full admiration and appreciation.” —Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, Former Chief of Defence of Italy, former Chairman of NATO Military Committee, former Minister of Defence of Italy

“This fine analysis is my favorite kind of military history—engaging, innovative, concise, and highly purposeful. Dr.Fasanotti is highly respectful towards the subjects of her book, and kind as well as highly educational towards the reader. Bravo!” —Michael O’Hanlon, Senior Fellow; Foreign Policy, Director of Research; Foreign Policy, The Sydney Stein, Jr. Chair, The Brookings Institution