Comments on: But that happened in France http://airminded.org/2006/05/03/but-that-happened-in-france/ Airpower and British society, 1908-1941 Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:05:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2006/05/03/but-that-happened-in-france/comment-page-1/#comment-502 Brett Holman Thu, 04 May 2006 12:19:17 +0000 http://airminded.org/2006/05/03/but-that-happened-in-france/#comment-502 Oh, interesting, I think I've heard of Malaperte before. No doubt he was aware of Douhet, and the Fascists were very airminded at times, what with Italo Balbo and all. I'm not aware of any detailed studies of Italian airmindedness, I'd be interested to hear of any if they exist. Oh, interesting, I think I’ve heard of Malaperte before. No doubt he was aware of Douhet, and the Fascists were very airminded at times, what with Italo Balbo and all. I’m not aware of any detailed studies of Italian airmindedness, I’d be interested to hear of any if they exist.

]]> By: Alex http://airminded.org/2006/05/03/but-that-happened-in-france/comment-page-1/#comment-498 Alex Wed, 03 May 2006 14:08:38 +0000 http://airminded.org/2006/05/03/but-that-happened-in-france/#comment-498 I've just been reading Curzio Malaparte's <em>Kaputt</em>, whose final chapter is a sort of redemption-through-KOB tale. The protagonist, Malaparte himself, having been locked up during the overthrow of Mussolini, returns to Naples just before the Allied landing, and claims to find a sort of re-identification with the people in the city, heavily bombed and abandoned by the rich and powerful, in being reduced to sharing their poverty. However - although the book was originally given as a memoir, he cannot be treated as a historical source. (Example: he writes about a pogrom in the Romanian city of Jassy, assigning himself a heroic role trying to save Jews, despite the fact that he wasn't actually there and reported sympathetically to the pogrom-ers in his newspaper back in Italy.) Apparently, much of the book was written when he still thought the Germans would win the war, and then revised after 1943. However, it's worth reading for the fascist high society, and in your case for the notion of moral redemption through strategic airpower. I’ve just been reading Curzio Malaparte’s Kaputt, whose final chapter is a sort of redemption-through-KOB tale. The protagonist, Malaparte himself, having been locked up during the overthrow of Mussolini, returns to Naples just before the Allied landing, and claims to find a sort of re-identification with the people in the city, heavily bombed and abandoned by the rich and powerful, in being reduced to sharing their poverty.

However – although the book was originally given as a memoir, he cannot be treated as a historical source. (Example: he writes about a pogrom in the Romanian city of Jassy, assigning himself a heroic role trying to save Jews, despite the fact that he wasn’t actually there and reported sympathetically to the pogrom-ers in his newspaper back in Italy.) Apparently, much of the book was written when he still thought the Germans would win the war, and then revised after 1943.

However, it’s worth reading for the fascist high society, and in your case for the notion of moral redemption through strategic airpower.

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