Summary

The home of popes and the Catholic Church, a place where celebrated artists and influential political thinkers have congregated, and a land of great beauty with a long and fascinating history, Italy is one of Europe's most distinguished countries. Exploring more than 500 years of the country's history, Italy provides readers interested in modern Italy or European history with a greater understanding of Italy's past, from the Renaissance to the present.

Concise and comprehensive, this guide presents the milestones in Italy's history in an interesting and readable way. Containing information in a variety of useful formats—including a concise narrative history, a chronology of important events, and an A-to-Z dictionary of key people, events, ideas, and places—Italy is a key reference to a country that is often studied in school and is of high interest to general readers as well. Major areas of coverage include Italy’s special relationship with America, Italy’s troubled political history, and the contributions made by Italian culture to the world.

Coverage includes:

• Agriculture
• Black Shirts
• Michelangelo Buonarroti
• Italo Calvino
• Baldassarre Castiglione
• Christopher Columbus
• Umberto Eco
• Education
• Ethiopian War
• Futurism
• Holy See
• Italian Nationalist Association
• Jews in Italy
• John Paul II
• Maria Theresa
• Milan
• Benito Mussolini
• Opera
• Papacy
• Population
• Quota 90
• Roman Question
• Terni Steel Works
• World War II
• Young Italy.

Specifications

Black-and-white photographs and illustrations. Maps. Index. Appendix. Bibliography. Cross-references. Chronology.

About the Author(s)

Roland Sarti received his Ph.D. at Rutgers University and currently teaches at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He is the author of several books, including Mazzini: A Life for the Religion of Politics, as well as many articles dealing with Italian history.