Alpine Courage

The first complete history of the Italian Army’s mountain infantry.

For one hundred and fifty years the “Alpini” have protected their homeland, crossing rivers and mountains to stand at the front lines of events that define our history.  They fought in the colonial wars, shed blood on the Karst Plateau, and battled on the peaks of the Dolomite Mountains during both World Wars. They fought within the borders of wintery Russia to save the Italian troops, and in the concentration camps to salvage humanity. From the snow-capped peaks of the Alps to the hostile terrain of Afghanistan, the Alpine troops remain Italy’s finest specialist corps. As one Alpino said during the most harrowing moments of the Battle of Nikolayevka: We haven’t been afraid until now, and we won’t be afraid now. We have wept, fought, and endured hunger. We are the Alpini; we certainly won’t stop now.