"A country that seems to lean into the void but never really falls into it may actually be firmly anchored there, like the Tower of Pisa." -Joseph LaPalombara

The Italian republic, at forty, is alive and well. Some consider this fact a miracle; many more judge it a paradox. Italy is the country of permanent crisis, where there have been forty-five national governments in forty years. Tax evasion is a way of life, one adult in three votes "communist," the citizens have no kind word to spare for their political leaders and instructions, and the state itself is simultaneously in conflict...