The Italian Guillotine: Operation Clean Hands and the Overthrow of Italy's First Republic [Hardcover]

Stanton H. Burnett (Author), Luca Mantovani (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0847688771 | ISBN-13: 978-0847688777 | Publication Date: March 26, 1998

Since 1992, Italy has been wracked by what has been dubbed a 'revolution,' the destruction of the First Republic, and the launching of the Second Republic. The five parties that once governed Italy are gone; the leaders who guided Italy for forty years stand accused of corruption, many languishing in jail or exile; and numbers of politicians and businessmen committed suicide. All these dramatic events stemmed from the exposure of massive political corruption by a small group of Milan magistrates who became national heroes. Yet this controversial book argues instead that the actions of this group amounted to a coup d'etat, conceived by radicalized magistrates in the 1970s and carried out in the 1990s by these same magistrates for explicit political ends that were ultimately achieved in 1996. The authors examine the sources of the magistrates' political support and protection, the intended beneficiaries of their campaign, and their skillful management of the media. Along the way, they trace the magistrates' violation of the norms of due process and defendants' rights and the preferential treatment given to political and business allies. Indeed, the 'revolution' is becoming suspect to more and more Italians, and now this provocative study will bring the story to readers outside Italy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Few readers of these riveting pages will fail to understand how deep the threat to democracy is, now represented by the Clean Hands investigators themselves, not by corruption. (Joseph LaPalombara Political Science Quarterly )

In developing their thesis, Burnett and Mantovani have been very clear, almost mathematical. They explain it, they stick to the facts and the unrolling of the story, and they offer proof, citing the words and actions of the protagonists themselves. (Di Scala, Spencer M. Voltaire )

At the end of the story, one is left with a fresh, plausible, and disturbing interpretation of the profound and controversial transformations that have taken place in the administration of justice and their revolutionary effects on Italian politics and society. The narrative is absorbing and the argument unrelenting; the authors challenge, or correct, prevailing interpretations well beyond what has been done by other writers on the subject to date. (Sabetti, Filippo )

The best, in fact, that has yet been written on the subject in terms of documentation and explanations. (Marcello Pera Il Mesaggero )

The authors argue a controversial point of view persuasively....[They] painstakingly document their case against the magistrates....[The book's] strength is the insights it provides into the motives and style of actors in contemporary Italian politics and media. (Foreign Service Journal )

The authors argue a controversial point of view persuasively....[They] painstakingly document their case against the magistrates....[The book's] strength is the insights it provides into the motives and style of actors in contemporary Italian politics andmedia.... (Foreign Service Journal )

Burnett and Mantovani have written an excellent history of Italy during the past fifteen years, the best available in English. It is the story of the downfall of the First Republic as the result of 'Operation Clean Hands,' a story virtually ignored outside Italy and often misinterpreted. While the extent of corruption pervading the old system is never doubted, the authors show that the Milan-based judges had a political agenda of their own and that their procedures were often unlawful. (Walter Laqueur )

The authors' great merit likes in the objectivity and meticulous documentation of their examination of the dramatic political and judicial facts that led to the destruction of a part of the Italian political class. ...The Italian Guillotine represents an important point of reference for public opinion, for politicians, and for historians. (The Silone Foundation )

The most interesting part is the analysis of the mechanisms and causes of corruption. They offer an economic explanation, the fragility of which explains the system's unraveling... (Foreign Affairs September/October 1998 )

. . . a novice to Italian politics will learn some useful things from this book. (Vittorio Bufacchi Political Studies )

[the authors present a] wealth of journalistic detail . . . (P. Vannicelli Choice, Feb '99 )

About the Author

Stanton H. Burnett is senior advisor of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C.

Luca Mantovani is chief of the Forza Italia press office for the Chamber of Deputies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 344 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (March 26, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847688771
• ISBN-13: 978-0847688777
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,094,130 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars La svolta etica della magistratura italiana, September 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Italian Guillotine: Operation Clean Hands and the Overthrow of Italy's First Republic (Paperback)

Il volume di Burnett e Mantovani contribuisce a chiarire il pericoloso processo di supplenza del potere democraticamente legittimato, quello parlamentare, da parte del potere giudiziario. Dietro allo sconto fra magistrati e politici, emerge il più ampio e inquietante processo di trasformazione dell'Italia in Stato etico, che taluni hanno semplificato, non senza acume, in un ritardato scontro fra modello calvinista e modello cattolico. Insieme ad altri libri editi in questi anni, tra i quali è doveroso citare l'opera di Ciro Sbailò (anch'egli, come Luca Mantovani, uomo comunicazione di Forza Italia), Davanti alla Legge, pubblicato in Italia nel 1997, The Italian Guillotine ha un solo limite, grave: non essere ancora stato tradotto in italiano. Fatto strano apparentemente, ma che la lettura stessa del volume rivelerà come inevitabile, in un Paese dove la magistratura difende le proprie illegalità colpendo, anche economicamente, chi le denuncia.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for understanding present day Italy, May 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Italian Guillotine: Operation Clean Hands and the Overthrow of Italy's First Republic (Paperback)

An excellent book to understand many important events in recent Italian history. A good antidote against many oversimplifications and false commonplaces about Italian politics and society. THe book is more journalistic than scholarly, and sometimes presents less evidence for its claims that it should. But the evidence exists elsewhere, so all the main arguments of the book are sound. It urgently deserves and Italian translation.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must to understand contemporary Italian politics., July 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Italian Guillotine: Operation Clean Hands and the Overthrow of Italy's First Republic (Paperback)

Burnett and Mantovani have written the only book that gets to the heart of the unprecedented judicial inquisition taking place in Italy today. Noone who wishes to understand contemporary Italian politics can do without it. Charles Loveridge, Cullen International.