John Foot

The Red Brigades were formed in Italy in 1970. They would operate until 1988. Emerging from the students and workers movements of 1968-1969, the Brigate Rosse believed in ‘armed struggle’ in order to spark or bring about a communist revolution.

Beginning with small-scale actions such as the burnings of cars, they moved onto kidnappings and eventually assassinations. In 1978 they kidnapped the ex-Prime Minister of Italy - Aldo Moro - in the centre of Rome, killing five of his bodyguards and drivers. He was held for 55 days while Italy held its breath, before being killed and his body left in the centre of the city. It was an extraordinary operation, which has inspired numerous conspiracy theories.

This book - the first history of the Brigate Rosse written by a historian - tells the story of this group, its origins and leaders, the dramatic trials of its members in the 1970s and 1980s, the victims of its violence and the end of the organisation amidst internal blood-letting and recriminations. Still relevant today, this history is a fascinating one based on archives which are only now coming to life.