Nov. 3 – “Il Patto di Roma e la Legione ceco-slovacca. Tra Grande Guerra e Nuova Europa” is a non-fiction book by Francesco Leoncini (published by Kellermann) that will be presented on Thursday at 5:30pm within the Department of Philosophy of the Charles University in Prague. The event – sponsored by the University in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Culture – sees the participation of the author and Pavel Helan, professor at the University of Prague. The Pact of Rome, signed between 8-10 April 1918, puts an end to the Treaty of London, under which Italy had entered World War I. The subsequent establishment of a “Czecho-Slovakian Army” is the most important result of Italy’s changing foreign policy towards the recognition of the nationality principle. The book rediscovers a long-neglected chapter in the history of the Great War, dominated by the spurious invention of the “mutilated victory,” and gives ample importance to the figure of Milan Rastislav Stefanik, a multifaceted personality, astronomer and aviator, born in France but particularly tied to Italy. (Roc)
