The Oxford Illustrated History of ItalyGeorge Holmes The name Italy evokes history and splendor. Toga-clad Romans, sweeping vistas of vineyards and olive groves, the majesty of a Papal mass, Dante's Comedia, and Leonardo's haunting Mona Lisa. Few nations can boast as rich an artistic and cultural legacy, and yet, the concept of Italy as a single, autonomous political entity is a young one, dating back a mere 125 years. Fragmented both by North-South rivalries and foreign invasions, the peninsula struggled for nearly 1500 years after the fall of the Roman Empire to become a cohesive whole. Now, in The Oxford History of Italy, two millennia of political turmoil and artistic glory are brought to life. Written by twelve leading scholars, this attractively designed volume paints a vivid portrait that ranges from the first hints of a nascent Italian consciousness (which often clashed with Rome's authority in the first century), to the Fascist struggles of the twentieth. We discover how the sack of Rome in 410 by the Goths created an enormous power vacuum, filled only by the proliferation of city-states and the ascendancy of the Pope. The book examines the artistic explosion of the Renaissance, illuminates the legacy of the Medici family and the great Italian masters--Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael--and visits ports such as Venice and commercial centers such as Milan, which prospered in the aftershock of the Black Death and the Great Schism. And the contributors explore the succeeding economic and political troubles of the following centuries: sharp depressions, inter-state wars, foreign invasions first by Spain, then by Austria and France. Not until the 19th century upsurge in nationalist fervor, fueled by Garibaldi's victorious war against the Habsburg overlords, was Italy's future as an independent nation guaranteed. Yet even today, Italy's political atmosphere is stormy: from the lingering Fascist sentiments, to the growing Northern separatist movement, to the rampant corruption that rocks the government and topples Prime Ministers with shocking regularity, Italy remains in a state of flux. Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of pictures--including 24 pages of color plates--this attractive volume is an essential history for anyone interested in Italy. From the grandeur of Rome to the contentious politics of modern times, The Oxford History of Italy provides an authoritative and unforgettable journey through this remarkable land. |
Contents
A Political Outline | 27 |
Politics and Society 12501600 | 57 |
Renaissance Culture | 86 |
Italy 16001796 | 113 |
Culture in the Age of Baroque and Rococo | 139 |
The Toeletta della Regina | 163 |
The Age of the Risorgimento | 177 |
Victor Emanuel II and Napoleon III enter Milan | 194 |
The first colour advertisement for Fiat 1899 | 258 |
Politics and Society | 264 |
An advertisement for the first Fiat car intended for mass consumption | 274 |
TwentiethCentury Culture | 291 |
Gino Severini Canon en action | 306 |
Italy since 1945 | 320 |
Cover of Grand Hotel 1947 | 338 |
349 | |
NineteenthCentury Italian Culture | 210 |
Politics and Society 18701915 | 235 |
Common terms and phrases
alliance Apulia army artists Austrian became Carlo Catholic cent central centre century Christian Democrat Church cities classical coalition Communist court crisis decade dominated early economic election élites emperor Empire Europe European Fascist favour Filippo Juvarra films Florence Florentine France French Garibaldi Genoa Giambattista Tiepolo Giolitti Giovanni Giuseppe imperial important industrial Italian culture Italy Italy's king Kingdom Kingdom of Sardinia labour landowners liberal literary Lombardy London major Mazzini Medici ment Milan Milanese Modena modern monarchy movement Mussolini Naples Napoleon nationalist Neapolitan northern opera painters painting Palermo Papacy papal parliament patronage peasants period Piedmont Piedmontese Pietro Pius political Pope popular produced radical reform regime Renaissance Republic revolution revolutionary Risorgimento role Roman Rome rulers rural Sardinia Savoy Sicily social Socialist Party society success tion tradition Turin Tuscany urban Venetian Veneto Venice Victor Emanuel Victor Emanuel II workers