Italy's Divided Memory

In this groundbreaking study, John Foot argues that contemporary Italian history has been marked by a tendency towards divided memory. Events have been interpreted in contrasting ways, and the facts themselves often contested. Moreover, with so little agreement over what happened, and why it happened, it has been extremely difficult to create any consensus around memory. These divisions can be identified throughout Italian history, but take on particular importance when linked to the great traumatic and life-changing events of the twentieth century—war, terrorism, disaster, fascism. They also manifest themselves in cultural fields such as sport and everyday life. This work delves into Italy’s past, looking at stories of divided memory over various periods in the twentieth century, and points the way toward a fresh understanding of Italian history.

John Foot is Professor of Modern Italian History in the Department of Italian, University College London. His previous publications include Milan since the Miracle. City, Culture and Identity (2001), Disastro! Disasters in Italy since 1860: Culture, Politics, Society edited with John Dickie and Frank Snowden (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), Modern Italy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), Italian Cityscapes: Culture and Urban Change in Italy from the 1950s to the Present Day edited with Robert Lumley (2004), and Calcio: A History of Italian Football (2006). He also directed the documentary film Piazzale Lugano, 22: Story of a House (2004). He writes for the London Review of Books and The Guardian.