ABSTRACT

World War II changed everything. The two most powerful factors in Italian American history are the migration itself that stretches out over the period 1880–1920 and the collective and individual experiences that Italian Americans endured regarding World War II and its aftermath. It is a drama of alienation that reveals the shortcomings of a democracy in wartime. Yet, it is also a story that reinforces all the positive notions that we have about opportunity and socioeconomic mobility in the United States and the power that lies in diversity. It is an ethnic story of Italians, an American story of internal unity, and an international story of Italy from the Fascist era to the Cold War.