Italy

The first edition of Italy: From Revolution to Republic, 1700 to the Present filled a serious gap in the field by synthesizing modern Italian history and placing it in a fully European context. In this updated edition, Spencer Di Scala considers significant developments since the book’s initial publication, including the end of the Berlusconi government and the implications of how that occurred and the reemergence of the Italian Communist party in the guise of the Partito democratico della sinistra (Pds). Di Scala also reexamines whether Italy’s financial policies, designed to bring the country into the first tier of nations fulfilling the Maastrict conditions for a single EU currency, have been successful and whether, in light of the Albanian situation, Italy is moving toward an active foreign policy more in keeping with its economic clout as the world’s fifth largest producer.Presenting the history of modern Italy from the eighteenth century to the present, this book begins with a brief introduction to the legacy of the Renaissance and the seventeenth century. Di Scala also critically reexamines certain traditional historical interpretations and assumptions. The "European context” ranges from the Enlightenment to unity, to liberalism, to the South, to Fascism, and to the Republic.The book gives prominence to social, economic, and cultural developments while providing a picture of how ordinary Italians lived. Di Scala discusses the role of women and gives ample attention to the Italian South, not only in terms of the "problems” of that region but also in terms of its active participation in the historical and cultural life of the nation.Cast in a clear and lively style that will appeal to students, Di Scala’s work makes a strong contribution to the field by providing different historical interpretations of events in Italian history by incorporating the most recent scholarly contributions in his analyses. The book includes a rich bibliographic essay, completely updated for this edition, designed to guide undergraduate and graduate students to further reading on the various topics under consideration.

Spencer M. Di Scala is research professor of history and History Graduate Program Director at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He is the author of numerous scholarly books and articles on Italian and European politics and culture, serves on the editorial boards of scholarly journals, and edits a book series on Italian and Italian American Studies.