Italy: A Modern History

by Denis Mack Smith

This history of modern Italy began in March 1861 when Count Camillo Cavour proclaimed a united Italian kingdom with the goal of creating a prosperous, liberal new power in Europe. For a country whose... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0472070517
• ISBN13: 9780472070510
• Release Date: January 1969
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Length: 508 Pages
• Weight: 2.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A very thorough review of Italian politics since unification

In this book, I got exactly what I wanted: an understanding of the actors, events, and movements in Italian political history starting with unification in the mid-19th century. Cavour, Mazzini, Garibaldi, Crispi, Giolitti, Mussolini, De Gasperi. The author does a wonderful job of constructing these characters (and others) while conveying the changing political and societal backdrop in which they labored. A lack of tempocentrism and equal emphasis on the earlier periods were very positive in my view. Detailed explanations of the causes, mechanisms, and failures of Mussolini and fascism were especially well done.