Written by one of the world's leading historians of Italy, this provocative and highly readable book is the first major study of the Italian monarchy and its impact on Italy's history, from Unification in 1861 to the foundation of the Italian republic after the Second World War.

"Brilliant, . . . remarkable, . . . highly entertaining. . . . Only Mack Smith could have told what is finally so shabby a story with this combination of learning and bravura."--Nicholas Richardson, Sunday Times

"A brilliant narrative history of the political role of the kings of Italy....

First published in 1954, and now re-issued with a fresh preface, Cavour and Garibaldi remains the single most important contribution yet made by an English-speaking historian to the study of the Risorgimento. Devoted to seven crucial months in 1860, the work examines in detail the sequence of events between the Sicilian rebellion in April, and the absorption of all the south into the Italian kingdom of Victor Emmanuel in November. It shows, in the contrasting priorities of the two great leaders, the creative tensions that underlay the movement for Italian unification. Against Cavour's desire...

Society and Politics in the Age of the Risorgimento contains ten essays written in honor of Denis Mack Smith by leading British and Italian specialists. The volume is intended both as a tribute to Denis Mack Smith's outstanding contribution to Italian history and as an attempt to open up wider debate on Italian society and politics in the period of the Risorgimento, bringing aspects of nineteenth-century Italian politics and social history into a comparative European context.

This captivating memoir tells the story of a resourceful woman who started a new life in "the most beautiful house in Sicily", and includes vignettes on her famous guests such as Tennessee Williams, Henry Faulkner, and Roald Dahl. Color photos.