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To Live Is to Resist: The Life of Antonio Gramsci
This in-depth biography of Italian intellectual Antonio Gramsci casts new light on his life and writing, emphasizing his unflagging spirit, even in the many years he spent in prison.
One of the most influential political thinkers of the twentieth century, Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) has left an indelible mark on philosophy and critical theory. His innovative work on history, society, power, and the state has influenced several generations of readers and political activists, and even shaped important developments in postcolonial thought. But Gramsci’s thinking is scattered across the thousands of notebook pages he wrote while he was imprisoned by Italy’s fascist government from 1926 until shortly before his death.
To guide readers through Gramsci’s life and works, historian Jean-Yves Frétigné offers To Live Is to Resist , an accessible, compelling, and deeply researched portrait of an extraordinary figure. Throughout the book, Frétigné emphasizes Gramsci’s quiet heroism and his unwavering commitment to political practice and resistance. Most powerfully, he shows how Gramsci never surrendered, even in conditions that stripped him of all power—except, of course, the power to think.
One of the most influential political thinkers of the twentieth century, Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) has left an indelible mark on philosophy and critical theory. His innovative work on history, society, power, and the state has influenced several generations of readers and political activists, and even shaped important developments in postcolonial thought. But Gramsci’s thinking is scattered across the thousands of notebook pages he wrote while he was imprisoned by Italy’s fascist government from 1926 until shortly before his death.
To guide readers through Gramsci’s life and works, historian Jean-Yves Frétigné offers To Live Is to Resist , an accessible, compelling, and deeply researched portrait of an extraordinary figure. Throughout the book, Frétigné emphasizes Gramsci’s quiet heroism and his unwavering commitment to political practice and resistance. Most powerfully, he shows how Gramsci never surrendered, even in conditions that stripped him of all power—except, of course, the power to think.
328 pages, Paperback
Published November 5, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 6, 2022
This is not a standard biography; after his youth, it focuses on Gramsci’s political situation vis-a-vis the Fascists, the Comintern, and his own Italian Communist party. It does not, for the most part, deal with his thinking as it went into the Prison Notebooks.
At certain points, the discussion degenerates into an alphabet soup of factions and parties, hard to follow and unrewarding. It reminded me of my reading of the history of the US Communist party with its splinters, head-spinning turns to maintain the Kremlin line, and so on.
The one thing that stands out is Gramsci’s attempt to maintain his party’s independence and his elusiveness when confronted with Stalin’s subsuming of the entire Communist apparatus, all this prior to the show trials, before which Gramsci had died.
At certain points, the discussion degenerates into an alphabet soup of factions and parties, hard to follow and unrewarding. It reminded me of my reading of the history of the US Communist party with its splinters, head-spinning turns to maintain the Kremlin line, and so on.
The one thing that stands out is Gramsci’s attempt to maintain his party’s independence and his elusiveness when confronted with Stalin’s subsuming of the entire Communist apparatus, all this prior to the show trials, before which Gramsci had died.
December 21, 2025
Not as much analysis of Gramscian thought as expected, despite constantly hammering at sharp differences between Gramsci and the Comintern, Gramsci and Bordiga, Gramsci and Togliatti, Gramsci and Tasca. Very good on biographical details, if a bit conspiratorial in places where historians tend to get conspiratorial regarding the mechanics of Gramsci's imprisonment and the futile measures of the USSR and PCdI to free the philosopher of praxis.
September 3, 2024
Really worthwhile read if you’re interested in Gransci’s thinking. Sorry there wasn’t a bibliography or reference list.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews