Book description
The 'fatal charm of Italy' has held Lord Byron and millions of
tourists ever since in its spell. Yet, beneath 'the brilliant and
vivacious surface', what are the realities of Italian life? Few writers
have ever painted a portrait of their compatriots as crisp, frank and
fearless as Luigi Barzini's. Cutting through the familiar clich s, he
instructs us with a cascade of anecdotes and provides a marvellous
guided tour through centuries of history. He examines Machiavelli and
Mussolini, popes, pilgrims and prostitutes, cliques and conspiracies,
Casanova and the crippling power of the Church. Yet alongside the
Baroque exuberance and spectacular display, the love of life and the
life of love, he also shows us a divided nation, injustice, ignorance,
poverty and fear. All this is Italy, a country of dazzling achievement
and an uncanny aptitude for getting round problems; both its virtues and
its vices are celebrated in this sparkling book
