For those who want an excellent overview of current challenges in Italy put in recent historical perspective, this is a "must" book!

Spencer Di Scala is one of the few scholars of Italian history in this country who really understands Italy- not only its history but its culture including the current politics.

He has written books on Italian and European history. This latest release of "Italy-From Revolution To Republic, 1700 To The Present" from Westview Press is an updated version in paperback.
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Italy: From Revolution To Republic, 1700 To The Present
by Spencer Di Scala , University of Massachusetts, Boston
Paperback Availability Date: 02/06/04 Westview Press 520 pp.
Retail Price: $40.00

DESCRIPTION:

Italy: From Revolution to Republic, 1700 to the Present  fills a serious gap in the field by synthesizing modern Italian history and placing it in a fully European context.

In this new edition, Spencer Di Scala considers significant developments since the book's initial publication. Because the "Second Republic" has completed its first decade, it is now possible to assess the results of the "Bribesville" scandal [Tangentopoli], the reforms that followed it, the performance of the center-right government of Silvio Berlusconi, and the fate of the Left.

Di Scala analyzes the successor organizations of the once-powerful Italian
Communist Party and the Christian Democrats and considers their prospects.

He also reexamines whether Italy's financial policies, designed to bring the country into the first tier of nations by fulfilling the Maastrict conditions for a single EU currency have been successful and whether, in light of the Albanian situation, Italy is moving toward an active foreign policy more in keeping with its economic clout as one of the world's largest producers.

Presenting the history of modern Italy from the eighteenth century to the present, this book begins with a brief introduction to the legacy of the Renaissance and the seventeenth century. Di Scala also critically reexamines certain traditional historical interpretations and assumptions.

The "European context" ranges from the Enlightenment to unity, to liberalism, to the South, to Fascism, and to the Republic. This new edition includes expanded examinations of contemporary Italy's economic, social, and cultural development while providing a picture of how ordinary Italians live.

It emphasizes globalization, the country's transformation from a land of emigration to one of immigration, and the country's growing cultural importance in the contemporary era.

Di Scala discusses the role of women and gives ample attention to the Italian South, not only in terms of the "problems" of that region but also in terms of its active participation in the historical and cultural life of the nation.

Also new to this edition are biographical sketches in every chapter.

Cast in a clear and lively style that will appeal, Italy: From Revolution to Republic makes a strong addition to the field by incorporating the most recent scholarly contributions in its analysis.

The book includes a detailed, completely updated bibliographical essay that is designed to guide to further reading and research on the various topics under consideration.

REVIEWS:
"This clearly written account of the last three centuries of Italian history includes coverage of the most recent developments that are changing the face of Italian society at the start of the twenty-first century. The coverage of DiScala's text extends beyond politics.

It effectively conveys the scope of the cultural and social transformations that make contemporary Italy a fascinating case study of the opportunities and pitfalls of rapid change. DiScala's text generally accentuates the accomplishments, a welcome change from studies that treat Italian history as a series of "failed revolutions"
Roland Sarti, Professor Emeritus
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

"Spencer Di Scala's book is a comprehensive excursion through three centuries of Italian history from the end of the Renaissance to Berlusconi. The updated bibliographical essay-- the only one of its kind in a general work-- is an invaluable guide through the complexities of the historical literature on modern Italy. The third edition confirms the book's reputation as an indispensable text in the field."
Nunzio Pernicone
Associate Professor of History, Drexel University

A long and fruitful career of teaching and research precedes the publication of this magisterial synthesis by one of our leading Italianists. His one-hundred-page-long bibliographical essay is the best thing of its kind in English, and the same can be said about the rest of the book. University students and general readers could have no more authoritative guide to the history of modern Italy than Spencer Di Scala."
Richard Drake
University of Montana

Di Scala gives careful attention to the clashing forces in Italian politics including the Church in the time during and after unification and Communists in the last hundred years.... This is an excellent book for someone who wants a concise history of modern Italy. Reader from Indiana.