The Archipelago

Italy Since 1945

John Foot

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Hardback

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English

Bloomsbury Publishing
01 August 2018

History; European history

A sparkling history of Italy from the post-war to the present by renowned historian John Foot

Italy emerged from World War Two in ruins. Divided, invaded and economically broken, it was a nation that some claimed had ceased to exist. By the 1960s, Italy could boast the fastest growing economy in the world, as rural society disappeared almost overnight.

In The Archipelago, Foot chronicles Italy’s tumultuous history from the post-war to the present. He examines both the corrupt and celebrated sides of the country: from the silent assimilation of fascists into society after 1945 to the troubling reign of Silvio Berlusconi, and from the artistic peak of neorealist cinema to the celebration of Italy’s 150th birthday in 2011. While often portrayed as a failed state on the margins of Europe, Italy has instead been at the centre of innovation and change – a political laboratory. Through stories of trials, TV programmes, songs and football matches, moments of violence and beauty, epochal social transformation and suffocating continuities, this new history tells a fascinating story of a country always marked by scandal but with the constant ability to re-invent itself.

Comprising original research and lively insights, The Archipelago chronicles the crises and modernisations of over seventy years of post-war Italy, from its fields, factories, squares and housing estates to the political intrigue of Rome.

By: John Foot
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
Weight: 902g
ISBN: 9781408827246
ISBN 10: 1408827247
Pages: 496
Publication Date: 01 August 2018
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

John Foot is Professor of Modern Italian History in the Department of Italian at the University of Bristol. His publications include Milan Since the Miracle, Calcio, Italy's Divided Memory, Pedalare! Pedalare!, Modern Italy and The Man Who Closed the Asylums. He spent twenty years in Milan in the 1980s and 1990s and now lives in Bristol.

Reviews for The Archipelago: Italy Since 1945

It's an astonishing achievement, and structurally so innovative: a pointillistic portrait of a complicated country as the title suggests. It captures the sweep of post-war Italian history but is so precise and detailed as well. The assembling of great stories, anecdotes, quotations and characters makes reading it effortless but also immensely rewarding -- Tobias Jones If you read only one sporting book this year, make it Pedalare! Pedalare! ... Absorbing, compelling and brilliant -- Praise for 'Pedalare! Pedalare!', Evening Standard Sparkling ... alive with terrific characters ... The key to [Foot's] success lies with the larger-than-life characters who people these pages -- Praise for 'Pedalare! Pedalare!', Spectator The first general account in English of the second biking culture ... As this year's Giro d'Italia hopefuls head out over a dramatic parcours, the ghosts Foot evokes will stir once more -- Praise for 'Pedalare! Pedalare!', Independent on Sunday More than just a pacy account of races and rivalries, this erudite and absorbing history of Italian cycling over the past century situates the sport in war, scandal and politics -- Praise for 'Pedalare! Pedalare!', Daily Telegraph This story of Italy's national sport - cycling - is related in this sparkling history, featuring a cast of eccentric characters -- Praise for 'Pedalare! Pedalare!', Observer