Brutally thorough, this history draws on non-English primary sources (unlike Lamb's "Mussolini as Diplomat") and produces an excellent picture in fine detail of the run-up to World War 2 in the Mediterranean. The complex, multilateral negotiations that were part and parcel of that theater from 1935-1940 finally explained to me how the Great Powers' preliminary failures led to the initial little war in North Africa, which came to such a peculiar stalemate before Rommel arrived.
If you have read Richard Lamb's book, Mussolini as Diplomat, then there's no point of buying this book as it essentialy covers the same ground, and comes to the same conclusions. What's more, even if the former is a dry, boring read, it's still a bargain at $5 for a hardcover.
Salerno really knows what he's talking about in this well written, precise and intriguing look at the build up to WWII. I found the original research accurate, the organization easy to follow and the analysis fresh and well supported.
