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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Italy Diplomatic Handbook (World Business, Investment and Government Library) ... Read more

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In recent years Italy has moved towards greater devolution of regulatory powers at regional level, in a European context where this dimension becomes increasingly important. This review analyses first the institutional set-up for multi-level regulation, the specifics of power sharing between the State and the regions, as well as the horizontal and vertical co-ordination mechanisms in place in the country, before turning to the use of policy instruments and regulatory tools in four Italian regions: Veneto, Calabria, Campania and Tuscany. Table of Content : Executive Summary PART I. MULTI-LEVEL REGULATORY GOVERNANCE IN ITALY Regulatory Competence-Sharing between Levels of Goverment Regulatory Policy and Management Horizontal and Vertical Regulatory Co-ordination Annex 1.A1. State and Regional Legislative Power in Italy PART II. CAPACITY TO PRODUCE HIGH QUALITY REGULATION IN ITALIAN REGIONS Chapter 1. Veneto Chapter 2. Calabria Chapter 3. Campania Chapter 4. Tuscany Conclusions and Policy Recommendations ... Read more

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The dramatic story of Mussolini's fall from power in July 1943, illuminating both the causes and the consequences of this momentous event. Morgan shows how Italians of all classes coped with the extraordinary pressures of wartime living, both on the military and home fronts, and how their experience of the country at war eventually distanced them from the dictator and his fascist regime.

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This book presents empirical research on the nature and structure of political violence.While most studies of social movements focus on single-nation studies, Donatella della Porta uses a comparative research design to analyze movements in two countries--Italy and Germany--from the 1960s to the 1990s.Through extensive use of official documents and in-depth interviews, della Porta is able to explain the actors' construction of external political reality, and to build a theory on political violence that synthesizes the various interactions among political actors. ... Read more

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This innovative text offers a completely fresh approach to Italian politics by placing it in its historical, institutional, social and international contexts. Students will get to grips with the theories and concepts of comparative politics and how they apply specifically to Italy, while gaining real insight into more controversial topics such as the Mafia, corruption and the striking success of Berlusconi. The textbook uses clear and simple language to critically analyze Italy's institutions, its political culture, parties and interest groups, public policy, and its place in the international system.Often regarded as an anomaly, Italy is frequently described in terms of 'crisis', 'instability' and 'alienation'. Sceptical of these conventional accounts, Newell argues that, if understood in its own terms, the Italian political system is just as effective as other established democracies. With features including text boxes and further reading suggestions, this is an unbeatable introduction to the politics of Italy. ... Read more

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The gradual secularization of European society and culture is often said to characterize the development of the modern world, and the early Italian humanists played a pioneering role in this process. Here Benjamin G. Kohl and Ronald G. Witt, with Elizabeth B. Welles, have edited and translated seven primary texts that shed important light on the subject of "civic humanism" in the Renaissance.

Included is a treatise of Francesco Petrarca on government, two representative letters from Coluccio Salutati, Leonardo Bruni's panegyric to Florence, Francesco Barbaro's letter on "wifely" duty, Poggio Bracciolini's dialogue on avarice, and Angelo Poliziano's vivid history of the Pazzi conspiracy. Each translation is prefaced by an essay on the author and a short bibliography. The substantial introductory essay offers a concise, balanced summary of the historiographcal issues connected with the period.

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Collection of Primary Sources
How did Italians of the 14th and 15th centuries reconcile their new wealth with their profound spiritual traditions? How did citizens of Florence see their city, and did their vision match the reality? What effects did Italian economic structures have on the lives of housewives and powerful bankers?

All of these questions and more are addressed in this collection of letters and essays by the great Renaissance humanists. Kohl and Witt have put together a valuable source book with excellent introductory material and notes. I see it as having special value for social and political historians, but literature lovers will also appreciate the humanists' characteristic eloquence, which shines right through the translation.

I should point out that this book is for students of the early Renaissance in Italy, so if you're interested in something outside the 14th and 15th centuries this might not be the book for you. ... Read more

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Italy Today represents one of the most comprehensive examinations of contemporary Italy. It is a provocative and an innovative collection that aims to highlight the current ‘crisis’ of the country through an analysis of several different ‘dark shadows’ of contemporary Italian society.

Italy already had a long history of ‘unsolved’ issues, several chronic problems and contradictions that have been ignored for a very long time, during which they have assumed dramatic proportions and gravity. The peninsula has now become the ‘Sick Man of Europe’, a country facing a veritable decline also caused by apparent incapacity and difficulties of the ruling economic, political and social elites.

Discussions include:

• an evaluation of the current predicaments of the political system
• analysis of emerging mafias, including new powerful crime organizations such as ‘Ndrangheta
• issues surrounding the ongoing presence of Fascism
• examination of the recent xenophobic tensions
• discussion of problems associated with the missed opportunity of the EU funding, and the increasing regional economic gaps
• outline of the systemic troubles of Italy’s economic and industrial system.

Written by leading experts in the field and covering a wide range of topics, this collection is essential reading for all those seeking to understand the issues and problems that are facing contemporary Italy.

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Based on an analytical evaluation of both the weaknesses and strengths of the Italian political system, Italy in the European Union is the first book to offer a detailed and comprehensive description of Italy's contribution to European Union policy-making. The contributors to this volume systematically explore the role played by Italian institutional and noninstitutional actors in several decision-making processes. They show how Italian institutional actors define and promote national policy preferences that are compatible with those of the other European member states. However, the book functions on two levels: it is both a nuanced picture of Italy's role in the EU and a study of the EU as it has been transformed by subsequent waves of enlargement. In a compound polity of twenty-seven member states the formation of stable hegemonic coalitions is implausible_the concept of national interest, which still informs much of the literature on the EU, is logically and empirically unusable in many EU policy realms. Combining empirical investigation and theoretical analysis, this book is indispensable for scholars, students, and practitioners who study or observe Italian politics. It is also necessary for those who want to understand the transformation of European politics and the European Union's increasing development as a compound polity. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

shopping review
I am afraid I don't know how good the book is, it is a present for my daughter in law, who is working on a PHD.But the shopping experience was good and I would buy from this seller again.

Great book
I read this book many years ago and like it so much that I now include it in the "reference library" I am making in my Kindle. Too bad Machiavelli's reputation is so much established by The Prince. The History of Florence and The Discourses on Livy clearly show Machiavelli was not all that Machiavellian. ... Read more

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In this powerful history, Philip Morgan tells the dramatic story of Mussolini's fall from power in July 1943, illuminating both the causes and the consequences of this momentous event.
Morgan recounts how King Emanuel first ousted Mussolini and how Germany then succeeded in putting him back in place, this time as a puppet of the Nazis. The resulting chaos included fighting by anti-fascist rebel groups, retributions on all sides, and mini civil wars throughout the country. When Germany finally surrendered, Italy was in complete disarray. The book shines light on how common people responded to and coped with the extraordinary pressures of wartime living and with the invasion, occupation, and division of their country by warring foreign powers. Morgan's descriptions of little known events from Italy's war, as well as vivid eye-witness reports from people who hid Jews, fought in the resistance, and killed collaborators, clearly show how much the country suffered during this time. And it proves how crucial the experience of this period was in shaping Italy's post-war sense of nationhood and its transition to democracy.
The book also debunks the myths that arose after the war, which depicted the nation as almost entirely anti-Fascist, with the heroes of the resistance movement fighting to rid their country first of Mussolini, then of their German occupiers. In truth, the situation surrounding Mussolini's removal from power, return to power, and eventual execution was far more complicated. This book presents an accurate history of Italy during the war years, rather than what Italians imagine or want their actions to have been.


"A clear and sensitive account of a forgotten conflict. Takes readers well past the jokes and romance which demean most other interpretations of Fascist Italy's war." --Richard Bosworth, author of Mussolini ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

About Italians More Than Mussolini
Two things surprised me about "The Fall of Mussolini."First, very little of it was actually about Mussolini.Second, I didn't mind because the real subject of the book was so fascinating:how the Italian people coped with the extraordinary changes during the second World War.

The author possesses a keen insight into the differences between how experiences are remembered in hindsight, and how they were actually experienced at the time, supporting his ideas with page after page of well-researched anecdotes from all sides of the conflict.

Like most Americans, I presume, I knew only the public grade school version of what happened in Italy, basically only that they changed sides, without understanding any of the context, how that was even possible politically, and how the citizens dealt with such a change.This book filled in the gaps for me nicely.

My two minor quibbles about the book are that I would have liked more information on Mussolini personally, although I'm happy to leave that for another book, and that many of the individual anecdotes are not individually cited.It did make for a more conversational tone, and the author did cite general references, but in an academic work it was jarring to not see an endnote mark more often in certain places.

Sorry, not about Mussolini
If I had known that the author, Morgan, was an academic, I definitely would have selected a different book on this rich subject. This volume is a textbook - a dull and mediocre history of fascism. It barely mentions Benito himself, and scarcely touches the conduct of the war in Italy. Instead of the supersize picture of Mussolini on the cover, a plate of cold pasta would have been much more genuine truth in advertising. The daring Nazi rescue of Mussolini from a rocky mountaintop earns one wimpy paragraph. Pathetic.

Where's Mussolini???
There is very little in this book about Mussolini.There is maybe one page on the Facsist Council meeting of July 25, 1943, and one page on his death in April 1945.Most of the book is filled with activities of the partisans and the general mood of the Italian people from the September 1943 armistice until the end of April 1945.The author recounts obscure partisan events in obscure places to make generalizations about Italy during the late war period (boring).Mussolini is at best a bit player in this book.For readers interested in learning about the fall of Mussolini and the Italian Fascist system, you will need to look elsewhere.

Tumultuous Time:Italy 1943-1945
"The Fall of Mussolini" covers the tumultuous period in Italy from roughly the removal of Mussolini from power in July 1943 (much to to the surprise of many, by then King of Italy, etc., Victor Emmanuel III, after Italy's fortunes in the war turned) to his execution in April 1945 after he returns as a puppet of the Nazi Empire in September 1943.There is, of course, explanatory material on events ocurring before July 1943 and after April 1945 but the primary focus of the book is on this brief span and an attempt to explain how it led to Italy's shift from a pre-war pro-Fascist government to a post-war democracy (after abolition of the monarchy by nationwide referendum in 1946 despite the King's abdication shortly beforehand on May 9, 1946, coincidentally almost a year to the day that Germany had surrendered).

The author's purpose is really twofold: (1) to debunk the myth generated by the Italian government(s), people, and historians after World War II that Italy was completely anti-Fascist during World War II with a resistance movement impeding and countering Mussolini's (and later Hitler's) every move; and (2) to present a social history of this turbulent period by showing the extraordinary pressures, risks, and decisions many Italians went through in an ever shifting political and military landscape.

By the time the war ended Italy was in chaos as a result not only of the military struggles and invasions on two fronts (the Germans invading to occupy northern Italy and the Allies invading southern Italy first as conquerors, then as colloborators) but also by sectional political fighting among hard-core Italian Fascists, anti-Fascist rebels, Monarchists, Communists, and others that resembled civil wars.

Overall, it is an interesting look at this aspect of World War II, particularly from the vantage point (and eyewitness accounts) of those who lived through it. ... Read more

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The Italian Constitutional Court has solidified its position as an important actor in Italian politics. In this book, Mary Volcansek analyzes the Court's role in arbitrating legislative and executive relations and those of the national and regional governments, its activities in trying ministers, and in filtering referendum proposals, and its contribution to the solution of the problem of media pluralism. Informed by the new institutionalism, this book offers a framework for comparative studies of constitutional courts that aims to explain their tendencies to render decision that are good policy rather than good law. ... Read more

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Coalitional behaviour is central to the Italian system of government but has been largely neglected by research. As a result, coalitions in post-war Italy have been viewed as simply unstable, short-lived and incohesive. In this book, the author corrects this one-sidedness by analysing Italian coalition politics as a continuous and dynamic process. His comprehensive, interpretative approach takes account of other new developments in coalition studies and relates his subject both to the literature on Italian politics and to the comparative study of party systems in liberal democracies. An introductory section places Italian coalitional behaviour in a theoretical and comparative context. This inductive framework is then used as a reference for examining the historical, institutional, motivational, internal, socio-political andenvironmental dimensions of the phenomenon.

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The book addresses key features of processes of Europeanization, such as adaptation and change in domestic institutions and their variation across policy sectors, pointing to the need to combine institutional analysis with theoretical perspectives - such as multi-level governance and regulation theories - that contribute to understanding the emergence of new forms of institutional innovation and the changing dimensions of territoriality involved. ... Read more