The long awaited moment
Subtitle: the working class and the Italian Communist Party in Milan, 1943-1948
By: Tom Behan.
Series: American university studies.; v. 174
Publisher: P. Lang; Lang Publishing, Incorporated, Peter
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 310
Subjects: Partito comunista italiano; Working class -- Italy -- Milan -- Political activity -- History.; Fascism -- Italy -- Milan -- History.; World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Italy -- Milan.
Description: This book describes the activities and political development of industrial workers in the Porta Romana area of Milan during the 1940s. The main focus of discussion is the extent of working class allegiance to the Italian Communist Party, which the author argues was generally more apparent than real.

Through the use of unpublished archive material and oral sources, the author argues that many workers possessed a more radical consciousness than that of Communist leaders: the desire for The Long Awaited Moment of an insurrectionary seizure of power. Although this current of working class thought is acknowledged as having existed during the Resistance period of 1943-45, up until now its existence has been denied as regards the immediate postwar years.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [257]-308) and index.