Customer Reviews

The Ciano Diaries 1939-1943: The Complete, Unabridged Diaries of Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1936-1943

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There are very few published writings by those that sat in positions of power during the period leading up to and during the Second World War that are of this personal and telling nature. This is the great difference between Ciano's Diary and the writing of the defeated or victorious from this time.
Ciano was not looking back and writing in an attempt to absolve himself of his role nor was he allowing the glow of victory to taint his recollection of events.
These sometimes seemingly shallow entries in his personal diary can allow us to view events of unfathomable consequence from his seat and without the ideological raging or gossamer thin excuses and attempts at self absolution of many other works; Albert Speer being a prime example of the latter; written by politicians or those that held office at this time.
To read this Diary in search of ideological or moral answers would be misdirected but to study this Diary and gain insight into Ciano, Mussolini and the machinations and power struggles of what was in reality a far from stable Dictatorship with an often tenuous alliance with Hitler's Reich would be to serve yourself well. This is a work that no scholar of Politics or History should overlook.

Written as personal diary, this book offers a keen insight into the events leading to World War II. Count Ciano, Mussolini's son-in-law, served as his foreign minister. Ciano opposed Italy's participation in the war and disliked Hitler. Yet Ciano also has his share of faults and moments of poor judgement. Undoutedly one of the most honest books from the period. The editing is often uneven. Some material contained is trite. The last entry, when Ciano knows he willbe executed by the Fascist puppet state, is quite moving.

This diary has little interest: no political analysis and no view on military affairs... obviously Ciano and the rest of the Italian government and military have no clue about what's happening around them. They keep saying stupidly: 'this war is going to be long'. Needless to say, not a world of moral or ethical judgment.

Most entries are criticism of some inept Italian General (too fat, and dyes his hair !), complaints about the Germans , or complaints about Albanians stealing silver cutlery at official dinners. Admittedly there is some emotion after 1942 when they start to realize that everything is going wrong, but the psychological analysis is very shallow (Ciano merely notes the 'depressed' mood of everybody after 1942). Nothing about Ciano's personal life in Rome's upper class, which would probably have been more interesting.

For a clever (too clever ?) Italian view of the war, read Kaputt, by Curzio Malaparte.

Ciano's Diaries are an invaluable resource to scholars who want to study the diplomacy of the Nazi's and Italy in World War 2. For those who are just causal readers of history these diaries will probably not be of interest. For the scholars of Europe they are essential. These are great and honest reports of what Italy under Mussolini was thinking. Ciano's second set of diaries paints the dark days of World War 2 for Italy and how the regime was on the brink of collapsing. Ciano himself would be executed as a traitor by the end but he and a small group worked to preserve Italy. The diplomatic maneuverings between the Germans, Russians and the Allies are captured here in unabashed detail making for interesting reading. For those who want to understand the diplomatic realties of World War 2 this is essential.

This is the raw personal notes of Ciano-- not an historical narrative. It is well supported, but the fact that it is a diary means that it doesn't present the complete picture. Ciano notes in several places, for example, that he has recorded the details of this event or that in the official records (which may or may not be available from other sources), then records only his personal reflections that amplify the official records. In some places the descriptions are terse, and it is clear that he recorded only keys that, in a post-hostilities frame, would enable him to recall the full record of an event.

The best parallel I can think of is Cornelius Ryan's interviews with Heinrici for _The Last Battle_, in which the general progress of events was based on the official record, on Heinrici's notes from the time, and on Heinrici's personal recollections during interviews with Mr. Ryan that actually filled in the details that the cold notations of the records didn't supply. In this printing, you get only the personal notes, not the greater historical perspective or the personal recollection that would fill in the blanks-- since Ciano was shot for opposing Mussolini in the end. The book is often cited for the insight to Mussolini that it provides, but because Ciano as Foreign Minister was involved in many areas of Italian government, it provides much more value than that.

I think the diary gives unique insight for people who want to understand why Italy was such a nonentity in the early years of the war; it doesn't elaborate it completely-- the question of why Italian aeronautical technology was so backward is not even mentioned --but it does present an upper echelon view, from the Italian perspective, of why their initial disadvantages were impossible to make up. Most importantly to me, why the Italian elite could understand that their national objectives were best served through cooperation with the Allies, but their survival required alliance with Berlin, is clearly drawn out here. The humor of the German battle plan as compared with the tragedy it imposed on the rest of the world is likewise just under the surface to the educated reader. The diary further enumerates the infighting and more detailed balances required to manage creating an empire from a country that was nearly prostrate to start with.

It requires discipline to read, as do almost all published diaries, because it isn't finished prose-- it's the notes that a top-level official jotted down at the end of the day to remind him later of what happened that day. However, it provides a unique view of the politics of governing Italy and conducting foreign policy during the years 1939-1942. As Ciano is a key figure during most of time, it provides insight to the southern side of the ETO, mostly of the populations and personalities involved, that isn't easily available elsewhere.

For Ciano himself?

At least half of Ciano's Diary is forgery, cleverly concocted by British Intelligence. Major Bridge presented their draft manuscript to Eugen Dollmann for his knowledgable verdict, while Dollmann was a POW in Italy in 1945. Eugen Dollmann was the German interpretor for the Reich in Italy, between the Italian and German leaders, and he knew Ciano well, and knew what really happened. He says to Major Bridge in his book, Call me Coward, pgs 32-33 'I think you've done very well indeed. For an innocent it would all sound very convincing no doubt, but for anyone who knew Ciano at all well it would be absurd.'
And he says, 'It is quite certain that half the stuff I had read hadn't come from Ciano at all. Secretly I was rather impressed - who would have credited the British with so much guile.'

I had been wanting to read Count Ciano's Diaries for years because I kept seeing quotations from them in all sorts of books on the period. They did not disappoint! Count Ciano had a front row seat to the whole show. Well, up until early '43 when the Nazis shot him... It truly is an amazing perspective on the war. Ciano vacillates between fear and admiration for the Nazis, as their fortunes run hot and cold. He pouts when Hitler does things behind the backs of the Italians, yet he gleefully acknowledges every time the Italians attempt to pay the Nazis back in their own coin. It's stunning to see how completely incompetent the Italians were in military affairs, and how incapable they were of reversing their fortunes. They stuck with much of the same military leadership throughout the conflict, despite their constant bumbling. More than anything it was a text that had me questioning why the Axis could be so stupid as to extend a war that they hadn't won. After the fall of France those must have been heady days for the Axis leadership. The world stretched before them. You really get a sense of this reading the diaries. Yet Hitler attacks the Soviet Union with the UK at his back. Inconceivable! Even Mussolini attacks Greece when he had more fighting than he could handle in the sands of Egypt. Looking back it takes your breath away. What if these guys hadn't pushed their luck way too far?