Politics, Murder and Love in an Italian Family
Politics, Murder and Love in an Italian Family
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What did it mean to live with fascism, communism, and totalitarianism in modern Italy? And what should we learn from the experiences of a martyred liberal democrat father and his communist son? Through the prism of a single, exceptional family, the Amendolas, R.J.B. Bosworth reveals the heart of twentieth-century Italian politics. Giovanni and Giorgio Amendola, father and son, were both highly capable and dedicated Anti-Fascists. Each failed to make it to the top of the Italian political pyramid but nevertheless played a major part in Italy's history. Both also had rich but contrasting private lives. Each married a foreign and accomplished woman: Giovanni, a woman from a distinguished German-Russian intellectual family; Giorgio, a Parisian working class girl, who, to him, embodied Revolution. This vivid and engaging biographical study explores the highs and lows of a family that was at the centre of Italian politics over several generations. Tracing the complex relationship between Anti-Fascist politics and the private lives of individuals and of the family, Politics, Murder and Love in an Italian Family offers a profound portrait of a century of Italian life.
- Offers new and surprising insights into the cliché of 'the Italian family'
- Raises fascinating questions about fascism and communism, Italian-style
- Weaves the personal and political together with the flair and finesse of a master historian
Reviews & endorsements
‘Good histories illuminate past epochs; the best histories do so by bringing individual lives into high relief. This wonderful book - part record of Fascist brutality, part remarkable history of resistance, and part love story - weaves the fate of Giovanni Amendola and his son Giorgio into the larger narrative of Fascist Italy and its aftermath.’ Roberta Pergher, author of Mussolini's Nation-Empire: Sovereignty and Settlement in Italy's Borderlands, 1922–1943
‘Politics, Murder and Love in an Italian Family offers new perspectives on Italian politics in the twentieth century. As always with R.J.B. Bosworth’s research, it is imaginative, meticulous and exhaustive. This well-paced, engaging study crosses political, social and cultural history, reminding English-speaking readers of the peculiarities of the Italian liberal-conservative political elite, especially its Southern component, during the years of the rise of Fascism.’ John Pollard, author of The Papacy in the Age of Totalitarianism, 1914–1958
Product details
March 2025Paperback
9781009280211
276 pages
229 × 152 × 15 mm
0.406kg
Available
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Table of Contents
- List of figures
- Preface
- Introduction
- Dramatis personae
- 1. Political violence and the Amendolas, father and son
- 2. The rise of Giovanni Amendola, 1882–1919: Man of liberal democratic ambition
- 3. Giovanni Amendola: a condottiere of pure anti-fascism?
- 4. Nelia Pavlova, Giovanni's last lover, convinced admirer and liberal democrat partisan
- 5. Giorgio Amendola 1907–43: True love and totalitarianisms (Italian-style)
- 6. Giorgio Amendola and a national road to socialism and the end of history
- Conclusion
- Afterword
- Notes
- Select bibliography
- Index.
