Studies in Popular Culture

BBC broadcasts during the Second World War

By: Ester Lo Biundo

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Paperback | 3 June 2025

At a Glance

Paperback
220 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.4 x 15.6 x 1.2

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$62.69

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London calling Italy is a book about Radio Londra, as the BBC Italian Service was known in Italy, and the company's development as a global leader in the broadcasting industry, starting from the Second World War.

Drawing on unexplored archive material collected in Italy and the United Kingdom, it aims to understand how the BBC programmes engaged with ordinary Italians, while concurrently conducting political warfare against fascist Italy. The book also focuses on the relationship between the BBC Italian anti-fascist broadcasters, the British Foreign Office, and Labour Party.

Key sources analysed in the book are, among others, the Foreign Office's records, the programmes broadcast by the BBC Italian Service during the Allied campaign, the memoirs of Italian anti-fascist broadcasters, the BBC surveys on the audience and the letters sent by listeners of the Italian Service.

Industry Reviews

'London Calling Italy offers an expertly researched, thought-provoking analysis of BBC propaganda for Italy during the Second World War, exploring how programmes were put together and what listeners made of them. It will surely become the key work on this topic.'
Simon Potter, Professor of Modern History at the University of Bristol

'This is a lively book that makes excellent use of its high-profile interviews to highlight an elite view of how the British economy should be managed.'
Duncan Needham, Journal of British Studies

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