Garibaldi

by Jasper Ridley

Traduzione di Mino Milani . 8vo pp. 850 Rilegato, sovracoperta (hard cover, dust jacket) Ottimo (Fine)

Genres: History, Italy, Biography, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Jasper Ridley was a British writer, known for historical biographies. He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and the Sorbonne. He trained and practiced as a barrister, before starting to write. During World War II, he was a conscientious objector and was, by his own account, violently abused while in a detention camp. He served on St Pancras Borough Council from 1945 to 1949, and stood, unsuccessfully, as Labour Party candidate for Winchester in 1955 general election.

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few men have lived more exciting or momentous lives than Giuseppe Garibaldi, the lifelong revolutionary best-remembered for his role in creating modern Italy. Jasper Ridley's Garibaldi demonstrates in painstaking detail that Garibaldi's legacy lie far beyond the Risorgimento. A Che Guevara for the 1800s (if not nearly as radical politically), Garibaldi served a general and corsair in Uruguay's decade-long civil war of the 1840s; led an abortive attempt at revolutionizing Italy in 1848; spent years as a wandering exile in America, England and France building his legend; and finally returning to Italy in the late 1850s to take part in the unification of that peninsula. Ridley's book recounts his military campaigns and political struggles with clarifying detail, from the years-long siege of Montevideo to the famous Expedition of the Thousand to Sicily which kickstarted the Risorgimento. Garibaldi's idealism clashed with the cynical scheming of reactionaries (Napoleon III of France, a sometimes-ally and more often enemy; the aged kingdoms of Austria and Naples and reactionary Papal States) and Count Cavour, who envisioned the Risorgimento in more conservative terms than Garibaldi's republican idealism. If the book has a slight failing it's that Ridley isn't clear on Garibaldi's personal beliefs beyond anti-clericalism and a generalized embrace of freedom, which led him to champion causes from Italian nationalism to socialism to abolishing New World slavery (a brief chapter revisits Lincoln's offer of a generalship to Garibaldi during the American Civil War). But maybe that's the point; Garibaldi achieved a great deal in his lifetime, but his legacy remains mixed, allowing radicals and activists across the political spectrum to embrace him as an idol. Even so, it's hard not to admire his achievements, as a man whose actions were often flawed and revolutions limited in impact, but whose motivations seemed as noble as could be expected from a statesman of any age. A definitive biography.

[Richard Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the European histories I’ve read his name takes up only a paragraph or two. But in the latter half of the 19th century the name of Giuseppe Garibaldi was on the front pages of newspapers throughout Europe and the Americas. Still today, many Italians view him as their George Washington who was responsible for uniting Italy in 1870. But stories about historic figures—founding fathers in particular—often prove to be as much myth as reality. I’ve long been curious to learn more about this rather obscure figure (at least in English language histories). There isn’t much available in English, but I found what I was looking for when I came across Jasper Ridley’s 1976 biography in our local library. His extensive research into Italian, English, Spanish, and French language sources, revealed a telling picture of Garibaldi the man, the military strategist, and the iconic national figure of Modern Italy, and exposed a number of myths about his life.
Garibaldi, born in 1807, grew up in a seafaring family in Sardinia, which today is part of northwest Italy. Then, Sardinia was one of several states occupying the land we now know as Italy. At that time, the separate states, with the exception of that surrounding Rome, were controlled by monarchs related to French and Austrian royal families. The state encompassing Rome and much of central Italy was governed by the Catholic pope. As a youth Garibaldi was inspired by the French Revolution and longed for a united Italy. He wanted to eliminate foreign control and papal rule. He joined the radical Young Italy youth group, an organization whose aim was to overthrow the ruling elites and establish a democratic united Italian republic. His participation in rebellious activities in the 1830’s was met with harsh putdowns by police authorities and he was forced to flee Italy to escape imprisonment. He began a life as a military adventurer in South America where he won fame as a military leader in support of Uruguay in its fight for independence. After several years in which he fought against Argentine and Brazilian forces, he returned to Italy where he set out to create a popular movement to overthrow the existing Italian rulers and to consolidate the country under his native state of Sardinia. Although he was a revolutionist, he was also a nationalist and a liberal, as well as virulently anti-Catholic.
Unlike Lenin or Mao, Garibaldi did not demand the elimination of the existing political structures in their entirety. He was an admirer of the British political system that married a democratic parliament with a royal monarch and saw it as a model to emulate. He found a friend among many British politicians, and that friendship helped to insulate him from French and papal efforts to eliminate him. With British backing, Garibaldi sought and won support from the Sardinian king, Victor Emmanuel, and Sardinian Prime Minister Cavour for his military expeditions in adjoining Italian states. While they gave Garibaldi some political cover, they also used him as a pawn to achieve their own goals of expanding Sardinian power without bringing the wrath of France and Austria onto their shoulders. Ultimately, Italy was united under the Sardinian King Victor Emanuel only as a consequence of French and German interventions. In 1866 France came to Sardinia’s aid and drove out Austria from Italy’s northern regions. Then in 1870 Germany defeated the French in the Franco-Prussian War and compelled the French to withdraw from the Italian peninsula. Without French backing, the Catholic pope was forced to give up the territory that he controlled in central Italy and retreated to the small Vatican enclave in Rome that we know today as Vatican City.
Garibaldi’s role in the final union of Italy was small, but his role as a catalyst in creating the political environment for Italy to unite was, I think, decisive. Unlike Lenin, or Mao, or even Castro, he didn’t cap his military career with a civilian leadership role over the country. As a result history, in a way, cast him to the sidelines. Nevertheless, his influence was critical to the eventual establishment of a united Italy. Had he not forced the issue in the 1860’s, it’s hard to say if Italy would even be united today. I found fascinating the web of royal connections between the sovereigns of the European states and the delicate balance that played out with regard to territorial aims. It all fell apart in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I which tended to put a nail in the coffin to European monarchical control. Had Italy still been divided when World War I ended, the Italian states would have been at the mercy of the European victors who would decide how to divide up the spoils of war. Ridley’s history is very detailed and laborious reading at times, but it helped me better understand the complex social, economic, and political dynamics surrounding the weakening of the old world order and the populist stirrings that lead to the even more violent upheavals that burst forth in the 20th century.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ridley's work on Garibaldi fits neatly into what I call the Big Ass Biography genre, like similar works out there on Proust or Van Gogh, this is the equivalent of a 3-hour superhero movie, a mega-biopic which, while sort of morbidly fascinating in its depth is in the end a little unsatisfying.
Garibaldi is certainly an endlessly interesting guy. Sailor, semi-pirate, player in the wars in Uruguay in the early part of his career, and most famous for his role in the formation of what would be known as "Italy". It is an adventurous and rollicking tale, I guess. Garibaldi was one of those rare players in history, dusty and heroic, probably didn't bathe much and weird things likely lurked under his toenails. He was a decent joe, fair and not particularly ruthless unless he needed to be. He stands out as a kind of understated version of what you might otherwise think of him.
The book certainly gives him his due. It is unfortunately about 400 pages too long. You read that right. You could easily trim this down by .400 goddamn pages and still have a fine book. If you like minutiae, though, then you might be a good fit for this. Pages on utterly insignificant moments or "controversial" points in Garibaldi's life that can hardly matter seem to crop up every few pages.
I guess this might be worth the slog if you're a heckuva skimmer. I'm not and as a result I know now meticulous details on Garibaldi's gastrointestinal stamina.

[Lisa Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved learning about this fascinating and important historical figure--it made me proud of my Italian heritage! But perhaps my lack of knowledge of 19th Century South American and European history hampered somewhat my ability to appreciate this book. There was simply too much detail, too many players, and too many factions for me to follow the thread of the narrative. I found all these details, especially the point by point descriptions of his many battles, obscured the big picture. Part of the biographers task is to identify major points in the subjects life and create an arc to the story. I don't think this was accomplished. It is, however, very painstakingly researched and the author managed to either confirm or dispel various rumors, romantic stories, or just outright lies about Garibaldi. For such a mythologized figure, that is surely a great service.

One interesting thing that I don't think is widely known, is that Lincoln's secretary of state travelled to Italy to try and recruit Garibaldi to fight as a general in the civil war. Although Garibaldi was very interested, he asked for certain conditions to be met--among them that Lincoln would declare that the war was being fought to free the slaves. Since the secretary of state could not make that guarantee, he went back to America disappointed. Later in the war when Lincoln did make that declaration, Garibaldi was approached again, but this time he felt he was needed in Italy to help fight the revolutions happening there.

Although it seems like every city in Italy has a street or square named after Garibaldi, I don't think he is as well know in this country. He was a hero who defies categorization--claimed by communists, socialists, even fascists, but he was really none of those, strictly speaking. He was a staunch believer in the values of freedom and humanitarianism, and he spent his whole life fighting against oppression, whenever he could, wherever he was called to do so--not just for Italians.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best bio of Garibaldi has yet to be written. Better than most, but still very boring.

[Olga Vannucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This clever, brave and very honest man
Landed in Sicily with one thousand men,
And through his action, Italy began.
He was loved, followed, and much venerated
By the young men and, too, by all the ladies.

[Sheridan · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a review two people must be involved- the reviewer and the author. In this case the topic chosen is the most important despite the best efforts of the author. I know this is unkind, tongue-in-cheek perhaps, but Garibaldi was and remains one of the most important men in history. In a thousand years he will be known. Yet, he knew when his job was done and retired. We all wish politicians and military leaders were not so like dumb boxers, wait for that punch too many.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose to read this tome for my IB course in High school. It was very informative and well balanced but at times just seemed to be a celebration of Garibaldi's character. Anyhow it was an exhausting read yet contributed significantly to my knowledge of 19th century Italy.

[Scott Rhymer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better biographies on this Italian hero.