Mazzini [Paperback]

Denis Mack Smith (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300068840 | ISBN-13: 978-0300068849 | Publication Date: September 25, 1996

This book by one of the most distinguished historians of Italy is the first modern biography in English of Giuseppe Mazzini, one of the leading figures in the political and intellectual world of mid-nineteenth-century Europe. Denis Mack Smith reexamines Mazzini's ideological impact and portrays him as a vigorous proponent of patriotism, a pre-eminent figure in the struggle for Italian independence and unity, and a fascinating personality whose ideas brought him into contact with Marx, Carlyle, Mill, and Bakunin. 'Denis Mack Smith's new biography easily surpasses its predecessors in any language. This is not surprising, since Mack Smith is one of the finest living writers of historical biographies and the most distinguished living historian of the Risorgimento.' Derek Beales, New York Review of Books 'This is the definitive biography: the job will not need to be done again.' A. L. Rowse, London Evening Standard 'The doyen of historians of modern Italy, Mack Smith has written a book which has all the usual admirable qualities of his earlier work, combining an accessible and fluent narrative style with lightly worn but meticulous scholarship ... It is to be hoped that Mack Smith's book heralds a reassessment, not just of Mazzini's place in nineteenth-century Italian history, but also of his intellectual contribution to the creation of a Europe of the nations that remains as urgent in our time as it was in his.' Richard Bellamy, Times Literary Supplement 'Definitive, highly readable biography of a revolutionary far more relevant to our time than Marx, Lenin, or Mao.' The London Times 'Superbly reasonable and eminently readable ... It should and most probably will be required reading for all students of modern European history.' Patricia A. Kollander, Historian Denis Mack Smith is a fellow of the British Academy and a Commendatore of the Italian Order of Merit. Fellow of Wolfson College and Emeritus Fellow of All Souls, Oxford, he has written many books, including biographies of Mussolini, Cavour, and Garibaldi, as well as 'Italy and its Monarchy', published by Yale University Press.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The first biography in English of Giuseppe Mazzini, the 19th-century Italian political theorist who invented nationalisim as we know it.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In a long and distinguished career, Smith (history, Oxford) has written extensively on the Risorgimento (the period of modern Italy's liberation and unification). This political biography is a natural follow-up to his excellent Cavour (LJ 5/1/85). Unlike the wily statesman Cavour and the romantic soldier Garibaldi, Giuseppe Mazzini was Italy's principal political architect. He championed nationhood and basic democratic ideals, and though he was essentially a moderate, his selfless dedication to the cause of a free and united Italy condemned him to a life of poverty and exile. This scrupulously researched volume, which clearly captures Mazzini's essence, will resurrect the ideas and contributions of a great patriot for those with at least a passing familiarity with 19th-century Italian history. Recommended for informed readers and academic collections.
Mark R. Yerburgh, Fern Ridge Community Lib., Veneta, Ore.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (September 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300068840
• ISBN-13: 978-0300068849
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,053,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Right up to Mack Smith's usual high standards, June 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mazzini (Hardcover)

This is a biography at once fascinating and charming: a source of fascination because one cannot help marvel at Mazzini's dogged refusal to give up hope of creating a brave new world in Italy, and charming because Mack Smith brings out the tension between Mazzini the somewhat desperate revolutionary in exile and Mazzini the courteous and likeable private individual. Of the three great men who created the Italian nation-state, Mazzini was both more honourable and less cynical than Cavour, and more humane and less hot-headed than Garibaldi. The contempt in which the new state held him after 1861 was little short of disgraceful, but this biography - well up to the standards of Mack Smith's other works on modern Italy - does a great deal to restore his reputation. If only Italy had had a Mazzini in the latter half of the 20th century.