The culmination of decades of nationalist aspiration and cynical Realpolitik, the Second War of Italian Unification saw Italy transformed from a patchwork of minor states dominated by the Habsburg Austrians into a unified kingdom under the Piedmontese House of Savoy. Unlike many existing accounts, which approach the events of 1859-61 from a predominantly French perspective, this study draws upon a huge breadth of sources to examine the conflict as a critical event in Italian history. A concise explanation of the origins of the war is followed by a wide-ranging survey of the forces deployed and the nature and course of the fighting - on land and at sea - and the consequences for those involved are investigated. This is a groundbreaking study of a conflict that was of critical significance not only for Italian history but also for the development of 19th-century warfare.

Frederick C. Schneid is Herman and Louise Smith Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History at High Point University, USA. He is the author of several books, including The Second War of Italian Unification (Osprey, 2012), The Napoleonic Wars (2012) and Napoleon's Italian Campaigns, 1805-1815 (2002). He is also the editor of numerous books, such as European Politics 1815-1848 (2011) and European Warfare, 1792-1815 (2007). He is a series editor for the award-winning History of Warfare book series, and on the editorial advisory board of the award-winning, Campaigns & Commanders book series.

Frederick C. Schneid is Professor of History at High Point University. He is the author of Napoleon's Italian Campaigns, 1805-1815 (Praeger, 2002) and Soldiers of Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy: Army, State and Society, 1800-1815 (1995). He serves on the board of directors of the Consortium on Revolutionary Europe and is southern regional director for the Society for Military History.