This 2012 Seaforth publication is very much what the subtitle of the book claims: A Reference Guide to the Regia Marina" If one has little to no knowledge of a topic, a book incorporating the words "reference guide" would be among the first books read, and author Maurizio Brescia gives us a good one.

With a total of 634 pages, Brescia provides his readers with a forward by eminent Italian naval historian Erminio Bagnasco, intrduction and acknowledgement pages, ten chapters, a selected bibliography, a note on photographic sources, and an index. The chapters are subject-based, each one presenting a different aspect of the Regia Marina. Chapter 1 outlines the history of the organization from its beginnings in the combination of four different navies from four different states that were unified in the 1860's to form the nation of Italy until the beginning of the Second World War in September 1939. Chapter 2 speaks to the infrastructure of the Regia Marina, its ports, yards, docks, and defenses. There is also some coverage of the various commercial Italian shipyards that built some of the warships for the Regia Marina.

Chapter 3 describes the naval service's wartime organization and gives a brief chronology of the war for the Regia Marina, to include specific operations. Chapters 4 and 5 constitute the bulk of the book, spanning more than 300 pages to discuss the Regia Marina's warships and special operations craft. Both chapters are organized by ship or craft type and then by class. Chapter 6 discusses Italy's interpretation of naval aviation, an attitude that proved to be a significant detriment to the Regia Marina, as the Regia Aeronautica avoided coordination and cooperation with the naval service as much as possible during the war.

Chapter 7 is an interesting and valuable component to this book as it discusses the various camouflage colors and camouflage schemes for the Regia Marina's ships and submarines. Of particular value to ship modelers, this chapter includes a color photograph section to better illustrate the subject of the chapter. Chapter 8 is a short chapter about the various flags flown by the ships of the Regia Marina, while Chapter 9 details the uniforms and rank insignia worn by the officers and men of the service. The text of this book ends with Chapter 10, a who's who of significant Regia Marina admirals and other ranks whose actions (or inaction) contributed to the outcomes of the Regia Marina's war.

This book is profusely illustrated with photographs, maps, and ship drawings. I have not seen many, if any, of the photos in English language books, which is a refreshing pleasure. The only critique I can offer is that more information about how the Regia Marina managed its personnel, its training establishment, and career paths would have been helpful. Also in Chapter 4 the author speaks positively of the Pugiliese torpedo protection system provided to Italian battleships in the 1930's and 40's, whereas most naval analysts condemn the system as being totally ineffective. Outside of those small points, it is good to see an Italian historian take of the challenge of providing a non-Italian audience with such a good history in English--who knows how long we might wait for a U.S. or British author to provide an equally good account of the Regia Marina.

Overall this was a great read! ( )