During World War II, the Allies dismissed the Italian Air Force as hopelessly ineffective when it was not in retreat. The author uses original documents & first-hand accounts to argue that the Italian force's shortcomings were not the fault of its airmen, who were no less skilled or determined than their opponents, but the result of such fundamental problems as under-powered aircraft, a poor logistics system, & incompetent leadership. Hundreds of photographs & details trace the frustrating lot of airmen armed with courage alone.