Excerpt from My Italian Year: Observations and Reflections in Italy During the Last Year of the War The writer of these observations and reflections, since childhood a lover of Italy, an admirer of the Italian people, and a frequent Visitor to their country, was in the latter part of 1917 assigned to military duty in Italy. He witnessed the remarkable adjustment of the country's internal resistance which took place after the Caporetto disaster, and which blossoming on the Piave in June, 1918, had its fruition in the magnificent Victory of the Italian army four months later. The duties of his assignment brought him in close contact with Italians in every walk of life and in every part of the kingdom. Trained by a life of observation, examination and deduction, it was in search of refreshment that the substance of these essays was set down for the entertainment and diver sion of one whose thoughts were in Italy, but whose work was in the land that has radiated and reflected the light of liberty to the whole world; the land in which humanity fought its most glorious battle of the nineteenth century, and which to-day is the source of a purifying stream of liberalism in which are being washed the sins of militarism, class, and dynastic privilege. Though some of his statements may seem to disparage certain features of Italian conduct or activity, it is commendation rather than disparage ment that the writer feels for the Italian people. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.