The ‘forgotten’ in the title of this book refers to the Italian colonial settlers who tried to remain in Libya after the formal end of the Italian colonial administration in 1943 until they were forcibly expelled in 1970 by the Gaddafi regime. Scoppola Iacopini combines a reading of the diplomatic archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and memoirs from members of the Italian community in Libya, along with a range of Italian newspapers from across the political spectrum. The use of a wide variety of sources allows the author to contrast the high-level diplomatic negotiations between Italy and the postcolonial Libyan state with the lived experiences of an Italian community caught in the space between imperialism and nationalism.

Scoppola Iacopini argues that the Italian settlers were forgotten by government officials, the general public, and historians in the post-war Italian Republic. Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proved more interested in negotiating favourable terms of trade for industries in the burgeoning energy sector than in protecting the interests of the small business owners and agricultural workers in the Italian settler community, which gained little support from a broader Italian public, eager to forget ‘a past that quickly became uncomfortable and cumbersome’ (p.8). This book presents an effort to finally bring national attention to the experiences of the postcolonial settler community. It offers a secondary argument in that it challenges widespread characterisations of the end of Italian imperialism as lacking the ‘tormented process of decolonisation that in various periods assailed the other colonial powers’ (p.10). Though formal colonial control ended quickly and as the result of military occupation and international negotiations, for the Italians living in the colonies, the process of decolonisation was longer and far more challenging.

The book follows a chronological structure from 1943 until 1974. In the Introduction, Scoppola Iacopini establishes the chronology as a means of defining a long trajectory of Italian decolonisation through the experiences of the community of Italian citizens in Libya. Chapter One discusses the transformation of the status of the Italian community in Libya from 1943 to 1950, when they lived under the control of a British Military Administration that saw them as remnants of a Fascist enemy. Chapter Two examines the period between the establishment of the independent Kingdom of Libya in 1951 and the finalisation of an Italo-Libyan treaty in 1956 that was supposed to settle Italian debts to Libya while establishing an economic relationship. Chapter Three gives an overview of the period between 1956 and the 1969 coup, what Scoppola Iacopini refers to as ‘the last years of peace’. This was a period in which most Italians reported experiencing positive relationships with their Libyan Arab neighbours. Scoppola Iacopini identifies a turning point in the Six-Day War in 1967, when Italians found themselves caught up in the general anti-Jewish and anti-Western violence. The final chapters of the book examine the rise of anti-Italian sentiment and the ultimate expulsion of Italians from Libya. Chapter Four covers the initial months of the coup that brought Gaddafi to power; Chapter Five examines the official expulsion of Italians in 1970. Chapter Six looks at the diplomatic relationship between Italy and Libya during first few years after the initial expulsion and the desultory process of repatriation and reintegration of settler families. The Conclusion explains why Gaddafi latched onto the Italian settler community in Libya as a convenient political nemesis even while Italy remained a crucial trading partner for the regime.

This book brings much-needed attention to the prolonged process of decolonisation in post-war Italy. By expanding the chronology, Scoppola Iacopini contributes to a growing effort among historians to fit Italy’s end of empire into the broader history of European decolonisation. It also provides valuable access to direct experiences of decolonisation by integrating memoirs of Italian settler communities. Rather than focusing exclusively on Foreign Ministry archives, Scoppola Iacopini insists on giving voice to those who have often been left out of histories of Italian colonialism: the colonial settlers themselves.

At the same time, the book demonstrates how difficult it is for historians to discuss the experiences of settler communities without casting a nostalgic light on the legacies of European imperialism. Scoppola Iacopini’s reference to the members of Italian settler communities in Libya as ‘our fellow citizens’ (i nostri concittadini), for example, contributes to a nationalist tone. It also projects an overly simplistic understanding of citizenship categories in a period when such designations were open to interpretation; who counted as an Italian citizen in the former colonies was a matter of extensive debate at the end of the Second World War. The emphasis on a lack of open anti-Italian hostility until the Six-Day War also downplays the negative legacies of Italian imperialism. The accounts of Italian settlers give the impression that tensions stemmed primarily from international pressures rather than local complaints. One wonders how an inclusion of memoirs by Libyans living through the end of imperialism might change this image.

Overall, this book provides an important contribution to the history of Italian decolonisation. From Scoppola Iacoponi’s combination of primary sources, we gain perspective on how debates over foreign policy affected the lives of ordinary people. Plus, anyone interested in how the Italian case fits into the end of European imperialism more broadly should consider Scoppola Iacopini’s chronology as a starting point. The book’s contention that the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs failed to protect the interests of Italian settler communities in favour of the interests of companies in the energy sector also offers a useful intervention in our understanding of how persistent economic ties between Italy and Libya contributed to the normalisation of Gaddafi’s regime in international relations. This book provides a useful starting point for further discussions on the end of empire in Italy.