History of the Italian People

by Giuliano Procacci

History of Italy Italians

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Italy, Italian Literature, European History

478 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Historian,

Reviews

[Teresa Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

LOTS of new information, very comprehensive about history, literature, art, catholicism, socialism, and and and. As I said VERY comprehensive. Exactly what I wanted to know - unfortunately, very difficult reading. Procacci himself mentions the difficulties over the centuries to overcome the bloomy, complicated, overly stylised Italian literary language. However, "methinks" he's still a fan of it himself. And the translation did not help. Only when I reached around the turn of the 2oth century did the reading get easier. I may have finally gotten used to the style.
To me the intricate ties to the "foreign" countries were an eye opener.
And it's almost scary how the economic problems and their solutions-which again and again did not bring the desired results, for the normal human that is-are being reused in our times. Money and power manage to marry again and again, no matter how motivated the opposition is, at the expense of regular folk.
And just as frightening are the current turkish events which are so parallel to Mussolini's rise to power. Now all we need is Trump and very soon we will be back to the beginning of the last century!

[Horia Bura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good and written in a fluid style, covering the Italian history ranging from the year 1000 up until the '60s. It would have been much better if the author hadn't been a Communist sympathiser and hadn't used the Marxist way of analysing Italian history.

As it was published in 1968, the author's angle of tackling his topic seems a little bit obsolete, but, nevertheless, it was interesting reading.

[John]

No spoilers, but you won’t believe the bit about Garibaldi

[Artie LeBlanc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is packed with information, but is not an easy read. I developed the habit of reading three or four pages each evening, to ease absorption. I suggest reading it with Google close at hand to help when you want to check on the relative location of cities, or the purpose of a treaty, or the ... (you get the idea).

The early part of the book was very effective at illustrating how the lot of the people was affected by political and economic development. I felt that this focus was lost later in the book, which seemed increasingly to be short (very short) summaries of huge numbers of intellectuals and politicians. Ultimately I gave up, following the overthrow of Napoleon; but I shall keep the book, though, for reference.

The index could be improved.

[Benny Kjaer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A scholarly work, and heavy reading. Lots of 'as is well known,' and lots of 'isms.' To really benefit from this work, you should already know some European history and geography.
Could benefit from a number of detailed maps and footnotes.

[DanyR · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it. Even though the book is full of information, every word has own meaning, it's written in more than reliable style (better than History of Great Britain in my opinion).

[Austin]

ggdgfsd

[paulína · Rating 3 out of 5]

ak neprejdem z dejín talianska, tak sa hodím o zem.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was poorly indexed though that could be a fault just in the translation. This was more of a problem since Procacci frequently mentions events and people that, though I was pretty sure had not been mentioned before, were not indexed. My doubtful memory made me want a better index though he definitely brought in subjects not previously mentioned without any explanation.

Now, as I learned when reading about the early history of Germany (or what became Germany), writing the history of a nation that starts out as a large group of disparate entities is difficult and confusing even at the best of times. But I do think that Procacci is writing for an Italian audience (and doubtlessly one far more familiar with Italian history that poorly historically-educated Americans!). Confusing and best left for those who already have a background in the subject.

[Sheridan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book in Florence and had it for two years before I first read it. The curious style of the translator or Mr Procacci does not make for easy reading at first. In those two years I read a number of other books about Italy and Italian history so I was very pleasantly surprised when next I picked it up-that it actually made more sense and was more lucid, more intelligent, than any of those I had read in the meantime. A little dated in some ways but like most of Italian culture, has something timeless about it. READ IT.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history of Italy, with a slightly Marxist bent. The history starts around 1000, which is unfortunate because I would like to have read Procacci's account of the early part of the Middle Ages. It ends with the death of Togliatti (1964), which of course means it is a bit out of date (I actually think the translation is even now out of print). I think he just died in 2008, so I hope there is more out there that will serve as a complement to this history.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Procacci dwells just long enough on the names and dates people, places, battles and dates of Italy without ever lingering on them - he's more interested in drawing our attention to the patterns, trends and defining movements in Italian politcal, intellectual and religious cultures, and never gets bogged down with too many minute details.

[Henri Tournyol du Clos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in French - the translation is quite good.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough and detailed.