The Italians

Paperback (30 May 1991)

Save $2.32

  • RRP $19.55
  • $17.23
Add to basket

Includes delivery to the United States

10+ copies available online - Usually dispatched within 72 hours

Publisher's Synopsis

The 'fatal charm of Italy' has held Lord Byron - and millions of tourists ever since - in its spell. Yet, beneath 'the brilliant and vivacious surface', what are the realities of Italian life? Few writers have ever painted a portrait of their compatriots as crisp, frank and fearless as Luigi Barzini's. Cutting through the familiar clichés, he instructs us with a cascade of anecdotes and provides a marvellous guided tour through centuries of history. He examines Machiavelli and Mussolini, popes, pilgrims and prostitutes, cliques and conspiracies, Casanova and the crippling power of the Church. Yet alongside the Baroque exuberance and spectacular display, the love of life and the life of love, he also shows us a divided nation, injustice, ignorance, poverty and fear. All this is Italy, a country of dazzling achievement and an uncanny aptitude for getting round problems; both its virtues and its vices are celebrated in this sparkling book

Book information

ISBN: 9780140145953
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint: Penguin Books
Pub date:
DEWEY: 945.092
DEWEY edition: 20
Language: English
Number of pages: 390
Weight: 280g
Height: 195mm
Width: 130mm
Spine width: 19mm