Italy often gets short shrift in popular English-language histories about World War II, with the fighting in the country shrugged off as a sideshow to the Battle of Britain and the invasion of France. Caroline Moorehead takes advantage of this relative gap in the literature with the moving “A House in the Mountains: The Women Who Liberated Italy From Fascism” (HarperCollins, $29.99).

First, let’s acknowledge that the subtitle of Moorehead’s book, as is often the case in this genre, is wildly overstated. The handful of women chronicled here did not liberate Italy from Fascism. That said, they certainly played virtuous roles in the fight -- and showed remarkable courage.