Books about Italy
Most people from Britain, the U.S.A or northern Europe who choose to buy a first or second home in Italy do so because they are attracted not just by a generally more clement climate , by the excellent food and wines but also by the wealth of artistic and cultural history in which the whole country abounds. There are many books available on all these topics as well as on the experience of expatriates who have settled in Italy and have been sufficiently entertained by the people they met and the way of life they entered to stay on and write about it. These books and authors are too numerous for us to describe and list here - the purpose of this short article is to offer some pointers to those people who want to deepen their understanding of modern (20th and 21st century) Italian history and thus get a better feel for what makes Italian society function, or disfunction…… Salient point : a majority of our Italian friends and acquaintances are adamant that the best writers on modern Italy are non - Italians. For those lacking a strong grasp of the language it is certainly tempting to stick to books written in English, and there are some very good ones. The best serious academic historian writing in English about modern Italy is Paul Ginsborg, educated at Cambridge and currently teaching at Florence University. His own political inclination is left of centre and it does sometimes show through in his writing. Nonetheless he is a very erudite and lucid commentator on Italy. For a good general grounding you should read his “A History of Contemporary Italy, Society and Politics 1943 -1988” Of more immediate interest is his monograph on Silvio Berlusconi, subtitled “ Television, Power and Patrimony” published in 2004 while “Sua Emittenza” was still in power. The ease with which Berlusconi was able to manipulate public opinion in his favour through a virtual monopoly of television casts disturbing light on the fragility of true democracy in modern Italy and this theme is thoroughly developed by Ginsborg in this excellent work, published by Verso Books. The same theme is treated in a less academic and racier key by Tobias Jones in his “The Dark Heart of Italy”, published by Faber & Faber in 2003. Last but not least we recommend you to try “Not a Normal Country – Italy after Berlusconi “ by Geoff Andrews, published in 2005 just after Burlesquoni as the Economist has dubbed him, lost the general election by a whisker and fell with bad grace from power (Pluto Press). This book finishes on a positive note by arguing that there are encouraging signs of a growing awareness among Italian people that they rather than their discredited political class will be the arbiters of their destiny. Each and all of these books will inform and entertain you whilst you while away the languid post-prandial hours on the terrace of your restored Tuscan villa or Umbrian farmhouse.
