
Italy: A Short History succeeds & replaces the long-established & highly successful Short History of Italy, edited by Professors Hearder & D P Waley. It presents a clear & concise account of the principal developments in Italian history from the Ice Age to the present day, intended both for student of Italian history & culture, & the general reader with an interest in Italian affairs. Professor Hearder's account centres on the main political developments, placed in their appropriate economic & social context, & shows how these were related to the great moments of artistic & cultural endeavour. Professor Hearder traces the prehistoric & classical history of the peninsula, the growth & decline of the Roman Empire, & the expansion in power & authority of the medieval papacy. He shows how the remarkable cultural achievements of the Renaissance emerged from the horror of the Plague, & how the spread of humanism & the development of printing made Italy the cultural heart of Europe. There then followed, however, a long period of domination from without, culminating in the brief episode of Napoleonic rule. This was only ended with the emergence of the great nineteenth-century movement for national renewal, inspired by the contrasting figures of Mazzini, Cavour, & Garibaldi. The newly-democratic Italian kingdom survived the First World War, only to be taken over by the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini. Professor Hearder examines the travails & contradictions of the Fascist period, & concludes his account with an optimistic assessment of the future prospects of the Republic, capable of contributing much to the rejuvenated Europe of 1992 & beyond.