Italian Armoured & Reconnaissance Cars 1912-45

The first Italian armored cars were used in the war in Libya in 1911–12 against the Ottoman Empire. With few tanks being developed during World War I, the Italians relied instead on the development of more mobile armored cars like the Ansaldo Lancia 1 Z. After the war, the army focused on the Alpine battlegrounds of Italy's northern borders, and did not consider armored cars suitable for reconnaissance duties.

The experience of the Spanish Civil War would provide the much needed last push for the Italians to develop modern armored cars. The result were the famous AB 41-43 models, which fought against the British in North Africa and Marshall Tito's forces in Yugoslavia, along with other vehicles such as the AS 36 light armored car.

Using detailed color plates and contemporary photographs, this book examines the development of the Italian armored car in the two world wars and the inter-war years from the deserts of North Africa to the slopes of the Alps.

Filippo Cappellano is a lieutenant-colonel of the Fanteria Carrista (tank corps) currently serving at the army historical branch (Ufficio Storico Esercito) in Rome. He is the author of several books and essays on the history of weapons, organization and tactics of the Italian army in the 20th century. He frequently collaborates with Italy's defence industries and military history journals.

Pier Paolo Battistelli earned his Ph.D. in Military History at the University of Padua. A scholar of German and Italian politics and strategy throughout World War II, he is active in Italy and abroad writing titles and essays on military history subjects. A contributor to the Italian Army Historical Office, he is currently revising his Ph.D. thesis for publication: The War of the Axis: German and Italian Military Partnership in World War Two, 1939-1943.