Customer Reviews

The Oxford Illustrated History of Italy (Oxford Illustrated Histories)

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Sadly, the Oxford Illustrated is a complete disappointment.

Each chapter is written by a specialist, which is a promising start. Each chapter, however, seems to presuppose that the reader is already completely conversant with the period covered. The chapters are littered with references to people or events that have not been introduced or explained. Instead of providing an overview, context, and the essential events; most of the authors seem bent on proving points to other specialists in academia.

There is almost no continuity between the chapters. The prose of most of the authors does not rise above the most tedious of museum "curatorese". The mind swims, the eyes water, the head nods with boredom and frustration.

Interestingly, the brightest and most interesting parts are the illustrations themselves, and their captions. Alas, these are a few scattered jewels in the wasteland.

How did such a failure happen? I would guess that the editor either did not provide sufficient instruction to the authors, or did not impose any sort of editorial direction on the book.

But ultimately, the blame for this failure lies with the publishers. Oxford University Press has cheapened their reputation by publishing this half-baked collection of disjointed essays.

I'm still looking for a good one-volume history of Italy - any suggestions?

This is the worst attempt by the people at Oxford. I am a big fan of all of their books and series but this one needs to be redone. The writing by all of the authors is terrible and no detail is given. While it is tough to cover the whole history of the country in one book this one fails miserably. Not only do you not even get a sense of how Italy developed you is left wondering what the point was. It does not leave you wanting more information in a good way but just disappoints. Stay away!

I was very disappointed with this book, because it is
a compilation of scholarly articles all written in
a verbose convoluted style. The articles do not flow smoothly
and the book is not to be read as a history flowing from one chapter to another. I do not feel this is a useful history of Italy. It is not an easily understood survey, and the writings expect too much previous knowledge of the history of Italy to be appealing to a beginning reader.

How can anybody really expect to survey the history of Italy in one volume? Arguably, Oxford is one of the few publishers audacious enough to give it a damn good go, and the effort succeeds admirably. This is, from necessity, a densely written but also nicely illustrated book, which spans the entire political, cultural and social history of a turbulent country and its many different peoples and invaders. Holmes is at his best on the Renaissance, particularly on the early decades of sublime art produced before the overblown muscularity of the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's. But this history is not just the story of Caesars and Medici, as are so many others. It traces the complex political development of the country we now know as Italy, which was, after all, in the making for over 2000 years. Highly recommended, even if you only look at the pictures!

Granted, italian history is not one of the easiest histories to understand, but the geniuses at oxford could have done a better job bringing the history down to a level us mere mortals can understand. they talk about the stuff like I have already studied it, like its just a review. In my opinion, in order for this book to be better it would need to be much, much, longer in length with more clear details, especially about the politics. however, it does cover everything, so its not a one-starer. rock on.

Italy has one of the longest and most completely documented histories of any modern industrialized nation, so to give a history of Italy from the Roman Empire to the present is extremely ambitious. To put it all into one comprehensive volume would have been virtually impossible. So given that limitation, I would say that this history is pretty good. It is constructed as twelve essays, each by a historian with a different specialty. The chapters dealing with periods that I had some prior knowledge of were easier to read than those of which I was completely ignorant were. But I did manage to get a good overview of Italian history, which was my reason for reading the book. The book has a couple of aspects that make it particularly recommendable. The first is that the chapters are refreshingly free of a political agenda, even the last chapter dealing with the political life of Italy in the 20th Century. The second strength is that the illustrations are very well chosen and help to illuminate the text. The captions are succinct and well written. There is also an excellent section at the end with suggestions for further reading and a rather detailed chronology. I certainly wouldn't call the book perfect, but in general I think it achieves what it set out to do. Four stars.

This book is a collection of essays on aspects of the history of Italy and the cultural changes in different periods from the Rome of Augustus through the last essay on "Italy Since 1945". While this is not a narrative history, it does provide an essay on the historical highlights of each period as well as a second essay on important cultural aspects of that time.

The essays are quite informative, and though they are written by specialists, they are written for the general reader. Obviously, the more experience you have with the history of Europe the easier this book will read. However, I did not find anything arcane or overly specialized. And I found the emphasis on culture refreshing and particularly appropriate for the true influence Italy has had on our modern world. This book will help you see how much the influence of Rome and later the Roman Church has had and continues to have on our culture. The art and architectural achievements of Italian artists and those of other nations influenced by Italian aesthetics are still quite alive in our present world.

There are a few dozen beautiful color plates and over a hundred black and white photographs and illustrations. The maps are particularly interesting. Watching the state grow from a bunch of Roman provinces to a unified Italy is quite interesting. There is also a list of sources for further reading, a chronology of the centuries covered by this book as well as a list of sources for the illustrations included. There is also a helpful index.

This book is for those who are interested in the history of Italy. It does not read like a novel, but is made of information of the vast history that has made Italy. If you like history, you will like this book.

The first essay begins with an obscure reference to a former pupil who, "in those few fleeting moments of ecstacy during my office hours instilled in me enormous feelings of guilt because so much blood rushed from my neo-cortex in her presence that I knew then I would change my academic specialty from Etruscan Art in Etruria to Etruria and its Etruscan Art" and then concludes with, of all things, a clarion call for Anschluss with Canada. Strange. The essay on Mussolini was brilliant, hampered only by the author's insistent mis-spelling of Mussolini's first name ("Young 'Bonero' earned early for himself a reputation as a pugnacious little turd, although he was an above average speller!")

A weird book from the weirdos at Oxford. They've done it again! I only wish I could do it again. Just once.