A sweeping, first-of-its-kind history of the creation of
modern Italy
The birth of modern Italy was a messy affair. Inspired by a small
group of writers, intellectuals, and politicians, Italy struggled
in the first half of the nineteenth century to unite all Italians
under one rule, throwing aside a multitude of corrupt old rulers
and foreign occupiers. In the midst of this turmoil, Italian
politicians felt compelled by a “force of destiny” hideously at
odds with Italian reality. After great sacrifice Italy was finally
unified -- and turned out to be just as fragile, impoverished, and
backward as it had been before. The resentments this created led to
Italy’s destructive role in World War I, the subsequent rise of
Mussolini and authoritarianism in the 1920s and ’30s, and the
nation''s humiliating defeat in World War II. This haunting legacy
deeply informs the Italy of today.
Christopher Duggan skillfully interweaves Italy''s art, music,
literature, and architecture with its economic and social realities
and political development to tell this extraordinary European
story. The first English-language book to cover the full scope of
modern Italy, from its origins more than two hundred years ago to
the present, The Force of Destiny is a brilliant and comprehensive
study -- and a frightening example of how easily nation-building
and nationalism can slip toward authoritarianism and war.
關於作者:
CHRISTOPHER DUGGAN is a professor and director of the Center
for Modern Italian History at the University of Reading, Great
Britain. The author of several books on Italian history, his
writing has appeared in the New York Times, American Historical
Review, English Historical Review, and the Times Literary
Supplement.
目錄:
List of Illustrations xi List of Maps xiii Preface xv
Part One: Awakening, 1796–1815 1 Deliverance, 1796–9 3 2 Searching
for the Nation’s Soul 24 3 Conspiracy and Resistance
Part Two: Preaching, 1815–46 4 Restoration, Romanticism and Revolt,
1815–30 71 5 Fractured Past and Fractured Present 90 6 Apostles and
Martyrs: Mazzini and the Democrats, 1830–44 116 7 Educators and
Reformers: The Moderates
Part Three: Poetry, 1846–60 8 Revolution, 1846–9 165 9 Piedmont and
Cavour 181 10 Unity, 1858–60
Part Four: Prose, 1861–87 11 The New State 217 12 The Road to Rome,
1861–70 242 13 The Threat from the South, 1870–85 259 14 National
Education 274 15 Sources of Authority: King, Church and Parliament,
1870–87
Part Five: War, 1887–1918 16 Francesco Crispi and the ‘New European
Order’, 1887–91 323 17 The Fin de Siccle Crisis 338 18 Rival
Religions: Socialism and Catholicism 350 19 Nationalism 374 20 The
Great War, 1915–18
Part Six: Fascism, 1919–43 21 Civil War and the Advent of Fascism,
1919–22 407 22 The Establishment of a Dictatorship, 1922–5 433 23
The Fascist Ethical State 449 24 Community of Believers 475 25 A
Place in the Sun, 1929–36 488 26 Into the Abyss, 1936–43
Part Seven: Parties 27 The Foundations of the Republic, 1943–57 529
28 The Economic Miracle, 1958–75 548 29 Towards the‘Second
Republic’
References 588 Index