Sicily and the Unification of Italy: Liberal Policy and Local Power 1859-1866 [Hardcover]

Lucy Riall (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198206801 | ISBN-13: 978-0198206804 | Publication Date: June 4, 1998

This is the first in-depth analysis of the impact of Italian unification on the hitherto isolated communities of rural Sicily. Beginning with the period prior to the revolution of 1860, Dr Riall shows why successive attempts at political reform failed, and analyzes the effects of this failure. Through an examination of the problems of local government - tax collection, conscription, the organization of policing - and of attempts to suppress peasant disturbances and control crime, she shows that the modernization of the Sicilian countryside both undermined the control of the central government and made the countryside itself more unstable.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`Fair-mindedness can be refreshing, and in Lucy Riall's monograph, a study that carefully builds to its last chapter on the weeklong uprising in Palermo in 1866, it is. Along the way, Sicily and the Unification of Italy includes balanced and well-informed assessments of the literature on Sicilian politics in the nineteeth century and on the early years of Italian rule. ... Riall's conclusions, superbly set forth in a few final pages that use the latest findings ... study ... will prove valuable to all scholars of modern Italy.' Raymond Grew, Journal of Modern History, Vol 72, No 4, December 2000.

`fine study ... she uses an impressive array of secondary and primary sources ... Throughout, Riall shows the complexity of the issues involved and her study is an important and valuable one.' Christopher Duggan, EHR, November 1999

`Useful and interesting.' John M. Roberts, History Vol.85 No.277

`useful and interesting monography' John M Roberts, History, January 2000

About the Author

Lucy Riall is at Birkbeck College, University of London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 364 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 4, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198206801
• ISBN-13: 978-0198206804
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 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: #3,107,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic and Essential, November 28, 2010

By 

Paul Stevens (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sicily and the Unification of Italy: Liberal Policy and Local Power 1859-1866 (Hardcover)

Generally speaking you are not going to look to amazon for an in depth review of this work. Obviously a search of JSTOR articles will provide a more probing analysis of Lucy Riall's books. However with that said I would just like to throw together a quick guide to the book and its usefulness.

The book in general as the title suggests is a study of Sicily, primarily the Western Half, in the post-unification period through the Palermo revolt of 1866. It is not for people without any background in 19th century Italy, however it is also not hard to tackle with if you are not a full blow scholar of the period and country in question. Riall like many others scholars of the last fifty years puts emphasis on the local developments in the South, but she also analyses larger policy decisions by the new Italian government and how they affect the development of Sicily. She does both these things, it is important to note, extremely well.

This book is essential to a study of Italy during this time period. In fact my writing a review of it for Amazon seems absurd because if you are studying this period you most likely already know about this book as its cited everywhere. So I will simply cut myself short and say to learn about post unification Sicily go with this book, its one of the newest and one of the best, but to be fair just get it from your school library because its priced for institutional use.