The World From Italy: Football, Food and Politics

by George Negus

In early 1999 Australian television personality George Negus signed off from Australia to spend a 'working sabbatical' in Italy with his partner and two sons. Residing in a poky apartment in San Giovanni Valdarno, a Tuscan town south of Florence, Negus and his family absorbed themselves completely in the rhythms of Italian life. On one of their forays into the bustling daily market, they came across a T-shirt bearing the 'Football is life … all the rest is mere detail'. Se began Negus's journey into the heart and soul of Italian life and the holy trinity of passions – football, food and politics. The World From Italy offers a thought-provoking and challenging insight into how the world works today, how it could work, and how, despite the mad global rush to nowhere in particular, the Italians still manage to go their own wonderful way. "A colourful and thought provoking book, which offers a far better insight into Italy than 10 travel guides."- Sun-Herald "A delightful melange of observations and postulation, both humorous and engaging … The World From Italy … is written with a genuine affection and delight that comes through chapter after chapter."-Matt Condon, SundayLife! "A sincere and generous book … throughout this entertaining and informative book, Negus assesses Italian society with panache and wit."-Christopher Bantick, Canberra Sunday Times George Negus is one of Australian television's most respected journalists and popular personalities. He has hosted a number of current affairs shows including 60 Minutes and Foreign Correspondent and has interviewed high profile personalities such as Steven Spielberg, Ronald Reagan and George Schultz. He has also independently produced documentaries on Russia and children's rights, has served on various boards and committees and was the author of a successful children's book in Australia.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Italy

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

George Edward Negus was an Australian journalist, author, television and radio presenter specialising in international affairs. He was a pioneer of Australian broadcast journalism, first appearing on the ABC's This Day Tonight and later on 60 Minutes. Negus was known for making complex international and political issues accessible to a broad audience through his down-to-earth, colloquial presentation style. His very direct interviewing technique occasionally caused confrontation, famously with Margaret Thatcher, but also led to some interviewees giving more information than they had given in other interviews. Recognition of his unique skills led to him hosting a new ABC show, Foreign Correspondent, and Dateline on SBS. He often reported from the frontline of dangerous conflicts and described himself as an "anti-war correspondent" who wanted people to understand the reasons behind why wars were senseless. He was awarded a Walkley Award for Outstanding Contribution to Journalism. He presented 6.30 with George Negus on Network Ten. He remained a director of his own media consulting company, Negus Media International until his death in 2024.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this, The World From Italy, by George Negus about twenty years ago. I've always valued reading non-fiction books by professional journalists. And this one doesn't disappoint. The fact that I remember much of it these years later is due to the clarity and economy of the skill and experience of this seasoned investigative journalist.
Five stars, as it was a pleasure to read, besides being informative and interesting, from the first page to the last. The opening page statement header says, " The Best Question Any Journalist Can Ask - 'Why?'
Trust the Italians, in their own delightful way, to confuse the issue. Their word for 'why' is perché. It's one of the first words you learn as you muddle your way through the early pages of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Teaching Yourself Italian."

[Al Bità · Rating 3 out of 5]

Australian television journalist George Negus presents what he considers to be the real values of Italians (Football, Food and Politics) seen from the perspective of 1999. Negus has a cheeky, chatty style that makes this relatively easy to read, but the book seems to be a little dated. Concentrating on Football for the first third of the book seems a bit excessive (especially if the world of football is not your cup of tea) and the many references to players and events at the turn of the century meant little for me. Besides, Italy is not the only country in the world where Soccer fans are 'rabid' about the sport... The food section was comparatively short; and the Politics merely tells us that political considerations of that time were just as chaotic and ridiculous as they remain today...

The author, however, sees the way the Italians treat their 'national identity' (or at least Negus' understanding of it) as being possibly one of the better ways for the rest of the world to adopt in dealing with the modern world (a world which has changed much since 11 September 2001!). There may be some truth to this (but then again I'm biased) — but I would argue that for the Italian 'system' to work anywhere else, one would have to be Italian! I suspect the true Italian approach is one which argues that Laws are basically a misnomer, and that it would be better if they were understood as Guidelines only.

Negus is obviously an Italophile, and this book is essentially a compilation of comments and observations by an accomplished journalist, and an interesting snapshot of what it is actually like to live as an Italian at the turn of the century.

[Lyn Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

George Negus seems to have enjoyed his year living in Tuscany with his wife and young sons. His own interests - sport, food and politics- are, not surprisingly, what he sees most vividly in Italy in 1999-2000. His television journalist cheerfully brash style is often irritating.
Disappointing.

[Camille · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most interesting element about reading this 22 years after the time is the glimpse of pre-EU Italy, of course only through a lens of football, food and politics.

The World from Italy hasn't aged well, but then again I am not a football aficionado, and I don't pretend to know anything of the politics. I hadn't even heard of the 'Third Way' which seems to be the global economic flavour of the time.

I'm not sure Negus was able to answer his own question "What is it about Italians?" after his time living there and his research into this book, but then if we were able to pinpoint what it is that we admire or covet so much, the fascination would be washed away.

[Christel Keijzer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Australian author spends a year living in Italy and finding the Italian perspective, psyche and its place in the world

[LindyLouMac · Rating 1 out of 5]

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5...

There are many travelogue type books that have been written in recent years about Italy. Living in Italy myself for the past five years and before then always having been a great fan of Italy I have read a great number of them. My husband and I both read this one and found it disappointingly boring, maybe it was just too dated having been written in 1999, or we just disliked the author's style. I am really not sure, maybe as the author is a football journalist there was just too much bias to football for my liking.
Although he makes some interesting and true observations about Italians and their life style there was nothing really that has not been said by other authors. In my opinion there are dozens of other Italian travelogues that will entertain more.