Cavour and Garibaldi 1860: A Study in Political Conflict

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Cambridge University Press, Apr 18, 1985 - Biography & Autobiography - 458 pages
First published in 1954, and now re-issued with a fresh preface, Cavour and Garibaldi remains the single most important contribution yet made by an English-speaking historian to the study of the Risorgimento. Devoted to seven crucial months in 1860, the work examines in detail the sequence of events between the Sicilian rebellion in April, and the absorption of all the south into the Italian kingdom of Victor Emmanuel in November. It shows, in the contrasting priorities of the two great leaders, the creative tensions that underlay the movement for Italian unification. Against Cavour's desire to extend to the rest of the peninsula the benefits of Piedmontese liberalism, the author juxtaposes Garibaldi's dream of a united Italy, achieved if necessary by force. The diplomat and political strategist is compared with the soldier and popular hero, and in the comparison it is Garibaldi who emerges as the realist, and Cavour as the inspired but dogmatic muddler.
 

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Contents

Introduction
1
Political opinions in Sicily AprilJune 1860
7
Cavour and the diplomats AprilJune
22
La Farina and Crispi June
37
Arguments for and against annexation
47
Arguments over ways and means
57
Crispi loses the first round June
71
Cavour loses the second round July
85
Cavour breaks with Garibaldi September
222
The radicals at bay September
240
Mordini the new prodictator 1725 September
261
Further controversy over annexation SeptemberOctober
277
Mordini summons and assembly 5 October
293
Pallavicino fights for a plebiscite 8 October
307
Parliament supports Cavour October
320
Mordini changes his mind 913 October
340

Cavour adjust his policy July
100
Depretis begins his prodictatorship July
117
Cavour plans a revolt at Naples July
129
Cavour fails at Naples August
144
Political differences in Sicily August
162
Cavour forces Depretis to a choice 18 September
176
Depretis fails to persuade Garibaldi 814 September
193
Garibaldi succeeds at Naples 115 September
204
Garibaldi makes his decision 913 October
356
The plebiscite in Sicily October
376
The doubtful significance of the vote OctoberNovember
392
Cavours government in the south NovemberDecember
411
Conclusion
434
Index
445
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About the author (1985)

David Mack Smith was born in London, England on March 3, 1920. He attended Haileybury College in Hertfordshire and studied history at Peterhouse College, Cambridge. He taught at Clifton College in Bristol and served in the war cabinet during World War II. In 1947, he became a fellow at Peterhouse College, where he taught until he was elected a senior research fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, in 1962. He retired in 1987. He wrote numerous books about modern Italy including Cavour and Garibaldi 1860: A Study in Political Conflict; Italy: A Modern History; A History of Sicily written with Moses Finley; Mussolini's Roman Empire; Victor Emanuel, Cavour and the Risorgimento; and Italy and Its Monarchy. He wrote several biographies including Garibaldi: A Great Life in Brief, Cavour, Mazzini, and Mussolini: A Biography. He was the editor of The Making of Italy, 1796-1870 and Great Lives Observed: Garibaldi. He died on July 11, 2017 at the age of 97.

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