While opening yellowed letters postmarked “Lago di Como, 1952” Ariana discovers relics from her great-aunt’s past, including a necklace that Audrey Hepburn gave her during the filming of a movie in Rome. Aching for a fresh start and the chance to resolve an unfinished story, the two embark on a journey to the sunny shores of Lake Como, Italy that will illuminate secrets and offer second chances—if they are bold enough to seize them.In Hepburn’s Necklace, Jan Moran, bestselling author of the contemporary Summer Beach series and the historical novels, The Winemakers and The Chocolatier, offers a testament to the resilience of love. Hepburn’s Necklace Available in ebook, trade paperback, audiobook, hardcover, and large print editions.

    But will Suzie find romance there or, like Romeo and Juliet, will it all end in tears? When Suzie is hired to accompany spoiled, abrasive Lady Alexandra Tedburn on an all-expenses paid holiday to Italy, she fears the trip will be a disaster.But she soon discovers there’s more to Alex than shopping and tantrums, and she’s determined to help her realise her potential – against Alex’s authoritarian father’s wishes.As they settle in Verona, Suzie can’t stop thinking about local artist Michael, who is still mourning the tragic death of his wife. With Suzie’s future uncertain, and Michael’s pastholding him back, it seems there’s no hope for romance in the city ofstar-crossed lovers… or is there? A gorgeously uplifting and moving story, Dreaming of Verona is the perfect read for fans of Holly Martin, Tilly Tennant and Jenny Oliver.

    The Nazi occupation has cemented its grip on the devastated city of Naples.Giuseppe DiPietra, a curator in the National Archives, has a subversive plan to aid the Allies. If he’s discovered, forced labor or swift execution. Lucia Pastone, secretary for the Italian Fascist government, is risking her own life in secret defiance of orders. And Lucia’s father, Aldo, is a black marketeer who draws Giuseppe and Lucia into the underworld—for their protection and to help plant the seeds of resistance. Their fates are soon intertwined with those of Aldo’s devoted lover and a boy of the streets who’ll do anything to live another day. And all of Naples is about to join forces to overcome impossible odds and repel the Nazi occupiers.Inspired by a true historic uprising, From These Broken Streets is a richly layered novel of the extraordinary daring of ordinary people whose bonds of love, family, and unfaltering courage could not be broken.

    Edie blames Anna for the accident that destroyed her family. So, when her will lures Edie to Sicily and the long-abandoned Villa della Madonna del Mare, she sees through Anna’s games.Suspecting Anna is meddling from beyond the grave to try to reunite her and her ex-husband Joe, Edie is determined to leave Italy as soon as possible. But before she can, the villa starts to shed its mysterious secrets.Who are the girls beside Anna in her childhood photos, and why has one of them been scratched out? Why does someone, or something, want them to leave the past untouched? The villa is a place where old ghosts feel at home, but does their legacy need to be laid to rest before Edie and Joe can move on… Bestselling author Louise Douglas returns with a captivating, chilling and unforgettable tale of betrayal, jealousy and the mysteries hidden in every family history. Praise for Louise Douglas:‘Kept me guessing until the last few pages and the explosive ending took my breath away.' C.L. Taylor, author of The Accident on Your Beautiful Lies‘Beautifully written, chillingly atmospheric and utterly compelling, The Secret by the Lake is Louise Douglas at her brilliant best’ Tammy Cohen, author of The Broken‘A master of her craft, Louise Douglas ratchets up the tension in this haunting and exquisitely written tale of buried secrets and past tragedy.’ Amanda Jennings, author of Sworn Secret‘A clammy, atmospheric and suspenseful novel, it builds in tension all the way through to the startling final pages.’ Sunday Express, S Magazine

    Inside the rusted gates, and through a large wooden front door dripping with sun-kissed flowers, Callie can’t decide if she’s more astonished by her new home or her first encounter with the mysterious young groundskeeper, Tommaso. Wandering the villa barefoot at night, Callie finds a diary belonging to a woman named Elisa, wrapped in faded blue ribbon and hidden in her birthmother’s antique wardrobe. Page by page, Callie is swept away by its story of love, passion, heartbreak and betrayal as she reads how Elisa married her childhood sweetheart in secret before fleeing to the woods to join the resistance. They vowed to find each other again when the war was over, but history had other plans. Callie is certain that her and Elisa’s lives are somehow connected, and that the truth about her family is hidden somewhere within the diary’s crinkled yellow pages. It gives her the courage to start asking questions around the close-knit village until, at long last, she feels her closed-off heart begin to open. Perhaps even enough to let someone in… But when a devastating betrayal in the final pages of the diary unlocks a heart-breaking secret about who Callie’s mother really is, the chance for a new life shatters in front of her. Can she persuade the locals to forgive her past and accept the truth about her identity? This unforgettable story of love, loss and secrets by the author of million-copy Amazon No 1. bestseller, Watch Over Me, is perfect for anyone who loves Fiona Valpy, Lily Graham, or The Letter by Kathryn Hughes. Readers adore The Italian Villa: ‘Mesmerising! I was totally hooked… absolutely perfect and just flowed endlessly with such ease. I really can't praise this OUTSTANDING book enough!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ‘I fell in love with this book! It was beautiful and captivating from start to finish. I loved Callie right from the beginning, she is such a relatable character. You laughed with her and cried for her throughout… Absolutely loved this entire book!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ‘From the moment I opened this book I was hooked. This is a beautifully written story with characters that tug at your heartstrings from the second they’re introduced. You can’t help but fall in love with them and the tiny village in Italy where it takes place… you feel as though you’re really there... I devoured this book in no time… you can’t wait to turn the page to find out what happens next...which is why I finished this book at 3 in the morning!... I was so enthralled from the very first page!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ‘I really loved it… makes you want to curl up in a chair with a warm drink and read this slowly. I found myself not wanting to devour this, but to savour every page.

    Working for a major Hollywood film company isn’t all glitz and glam. But when Emma gets sent to tour around Italy to scout the perfect location for a new blockbuster movie, she’s not going to complain. Especially when it could make or break her career…Historical adviser for the project Mark is a distraction that Emma does not need. As they explore the beauty of Italy, Emma starts to fall for the mysterious Mark, and soon finds herself torn between her job and her heart.From the wild, northern mountains of Piedmont, down the vibrant coast of Cinque Terre and through the rolling hills of Tuscany, Emma’s journey becomes one of self-discovery as she questions her priorities in life. This heartwarming story of romance and redemption is the perfect read for fans of Tilly Tennant, Holly Martin and Daisy James.

    Her mother, who never travelled abroad, was going to Sicily without telling a soul. Why was she keeping her trip to Sicily a secret and who is the mysterious woman who wrote the journal? Josie travels to Sicily and follows in the footsteps of two young women in the journal, sisters who visited the Italian island in the nineteen sixties. What secrets will Josie uncover and why does she feel she is being followed at every turn?Josie soon discovers there was more to their trip than a just a holiday. Amongst the stunning sites and scenery of Sicily, an unimaginable tale of love, loss and tragedy unfolds. The tentacles of their story reach down the generations.Josie and Michael, a young American on the tour, soon realise their part in this story is only just beginning…Can they right the wrongs of the past before

    She didn’t expect the change of a lifetime.Doctors Without Borders has been Lucy Young’s life for the past four years. After being rescued from a conflict zone, she’s making a change from saving lives under gunfire to practising medicine in safe, serene Siena.Now treating wealthy patients at a private clinic, she's never felt less comfortable. She’s used to helping those in dire need – not those in need of a nip and tuck. Her turmoil grows when she encounters injured tennis star David Lorenzo, whose smiles make Lucy forget her aversion to the rich.She’s soon falling for the sportsman but is she losing herself in this world of excess? All she’s ever wanted was to help the underprivileged, so can her future lie in Siena at the clinic – with David?This sunny romance is the perfect summer escape for fans of Lucy Coleman and Alex Brown.

    A faint breeze blew over the rooftops, as flocks of starlings swirled above her, swooping and diving in unison. It seemed unimaginable that, even now, German soldiers were marching along the streets below. It was time, she decided, for direct action. It was time to fight back.Each morning Livia Moretti makes her way from an apartment overlooking Florence’s famous Duomo to a nearby café, where she drinks espresso and reads the newspaper. To the crowds of tourists who pass by, snapping selfies, nothing about Livia will be memorable. She is simply an old lady. They walk on without knowing the part she played in ensuring the future of this beautiful city. And to Livia now, those dark days feel very far away too.But today, when she opens the paper, she sees a name she has not heard for a long time. A name that will bring memories flooding back of Nazi troops marching through the city and the dangers she faced as a young woman, carrying out secret missions for the resistance.Isabella Bellucci.A siren of the silver screen, Isabella cultivated all the right connections to ensure her rise to stardom. But when Rome falls to the Nazis, Isabella is suddenly faced with the choice between protecting herself, and all she has worked for, or sacrificing everything to save the man she loves.As the war rages across Europe, a terrible misunderstanding causes the fates of Isabella and Livia to become forever intertwined. And each woman must decide what they’re willing to risk, to protect the ones they hold dear from a brutal enemy.Inspired by the incredible true stories of two women in wartime Italy, this is a heart-wrenching and unforgettable tale of love, resistance, betrayal and hope. Fans of Kate Furnivall, Fiona Valpy and My Name is Eva will be absolutely gripped by this sweeping Second World War novel.

    Here, in Raphael, Painter in Rome, Storey tells of its creation as never before: through the eyes of Michelangelo’s fiercest rival—the young, beautiful, brilliant painter of perfection, Raphael. Orphaned at age eleven, Raphael is determined to keep the deathbed promise he made to his father: become the greatest artist in history. But to be the best, he must beat the best, the legendary sculptor of the David, Michelangelo Buonarroti. When Pope Julius II calls both artists down to Rome, they are pitted against each other: Michelangelo painting the Sistine Ceiling, while Raphael decorates the pope's private apartments. As Raphael strives toward perfection in paint, he battles internal demons: his desperate ambition, crippling fear of imperfection, and unshakable loneliness. Along the way, he conspires with cardinals, scrambles through the ruins of ancient Rome, and falls in love with a baker’s-daughter-turned-prostitute who becomes his muse.  With its gorgeous writing, rich settings, endearing characters, and riveting plot, Raphael, Painter in Rome brings to vivid life these two Renaissance masters going head to head in the deadly halls of the Vatican.

    His only hope for survival is a bone marrow transplant. After an exhaustive search, a match turns up three thousand miles away in the form of a most unlikely donor: Joseph Neiman, a rabbi in Brooklyn, New York, who is suffering from a debilitating crisis of faith. As Luca’s young nurse, Nina Vocelli, risks her career and races against time to help save the spirited redheaded boy, she uncovers terrible secrets from World War II—secrets that reveal how a Catholic child could have Jewish genes.Can inheritance be transcended by accidents of love? That is the question at the heart of This Magnificent Dappled Sea, a novel that challenges the idea of identity and celebrates the ties that bind us together.

    Everyone dismisses her long-term dream to live in Italy as another ‘mad hippy whim.’ While she’s busy planning other people’s happy endings, grief, eviction and debt nip at her heels. Trying to stabilise her life as an entrepreneur in the middle of an economic crash is almost impossible.When her landlord suddenly doubles the rent, Rosie is left with no choice but to pack up her family, two dogs and possessions into a 20-year-old camper van and head off in search of her own happy ending in sunny Italy.She soon discovers integrating into life in a new country isn’t as easy as it looks on TV, especially when the language is a minefield of accidental sexual innuendo. And trying to buy an abandoned villa in Umbria from eight crazy cousins with a longstanding family battle bubbling under the surface doesn’t make it any easier. While Rosie is determined to create the perfect life for her family in Italy, despite a hurricane, a raucous family dispute and a little thing called a global pandemic to top it all off, she begins to realise that the Italian dream may be too big for her. Will she ever get to live her rosy life in Italy? Or has she bitten off more than she can chew?

    With an innate grasp of color, light, and composition, and inspired by the mercurial Caravaggio, the fiery Artemisia embraces her calling with a precocious brilliance. But as a young woman, she also finds herself oppressed by a powerful patriarchy, and she is forced to endure emotional and physical abuse at the hands of men.Until a shattering act of violence unleashes Artemisia’s righteous fury.Refusing to be silenced and resolved to best men at their own games, Artemisia does what no woman had dared to do before. She fights back.A bracing historical novel about a woman boldly at odds with her time, Fierce Dreamer explores the fearless determination that would fuel Artemisia Gentileschi’s most courageous works of art and make her independent voice a vital one for our own time.

    Soon, she finds herself sitting before Leonardo da Vinci, who wants to ensure his own place in the ducal palace by painting his most ambitious portrait to date.Munich, World War II: After a modest conservator unwittingly places a priceless Italian Renaissance portrait into the hands of a high-ranking Nazi leader, she risks her life to recover it, working with an American soldier, part of the famed Monuments Men team, to get it back. Two women, separated by 500 years, are swept up in the tide of history as one painting stands at the center of their quests for their own destinies.

    The Cornish Confetti Agency is heading to Tuscany!Why not join Lexie as she co-ordinates Isla and Nico’s wedding in gorgeous Florence?

    . . Naples, 1566. During a sweltering summer, eighteen-year-old Giordano Bruno takes his final vows at San Domenico Maggiore and is admitted to the Dominican Order—despite doubts over his tendency to ask difficult questions. Assisting in the infirmary, Bruno witnesses an illicit autopsy performed on the body of a young woman. Her corpse reveals a dark secret, and Bruno suspects that hers may not have been an accidental death. His investigation leads him to a powerful figure who wants to keep the truth buried—and Bruno is forced to make a choice between his future in the Order, and justice for an innocent victim and her grieving family . . .

    Mirelle, a young Jewish maiden, must choose between her duty―an arranged marriage to a wealthy Jewish merchant―and her love for a dashing French Catholic soldier. Meanwhile, Francesca, a devout Catholic, must decide if she will honor her marriage vows to an abusive and murderous husband when he enmeshes their family in the theft of a miracle portrait of the Madonna.Set during the turbulent days of Napoleon Bonaparte’s Italian campaign (1796–97), Beyond the Ghetto Gates is both a cautionary tale for our present moment, with its rising tide of anti-Semitism, and a story of hope―a reminder of a time in history when men and women of conflicting faiths were able to reconcile their prejudices in the face of a rapidly changing world.

    Over a third of them are unemployed. Economic growth has been close to nil for over two decades. The Eurozone's third-largest economy, Italy's long-term slide today threatens to blow up the whole European project. The rise to power in summer 2018 of Matteo Salvini's hard-right Lega and the eclectic Five Star Movement has pushed Italy, and the whole continent, into unknown territory. The monstrous forces that now rule Italy emerge from a deep well of despair. What broke apart in Italy over the 1990s and 2000s was not just a once mighty Left but also the very bases of social solidarity. The rise of Silvio Berlusconi, the asset-stripping of the Italian state and the creation of the neoliberal Democratic Party hollowed out Italian public life; and when the crisis hit, Italians were left to fend for themselves. But the change they voted for in 2018 threatens to push the country even deeper into the abyss.The upheavals in Rome epitomize a general crisis of democracy in the West. Examining Italy's history since the end of the Cold War, First We Take Rome looks at the wider significance of the current crisis and its wider political stakes. With clarity and breadth of scope, David Broder examines the recent history and social forces that brought the country to this crisis and the state of oppositional movements working to reestablish Italy's traditions of radicalism.

    But when her parents, both high-ranking partisans, go missing, Franca is compelled to take action---even if it means crossing enemy lines to save those she loves. Peter Weimer is a German soldier forced into a war he abhors. When he can take no more of the Nazi atrocities he’s been forced to witness, he deserts the German army—a decision that brands him as an enemy. Franca and Peter were nothing more than two strangers from enemy countries, but when their paths collide amid the horrors of war, they are swept into an epic journey of chilling danger, unparalleled courage, and a sweeping passion that could cost them everything they have fought for.

    But was Machiavelli as sinister as he is often thought to be? Might he not have been an infinitely more sympathetic figure, prone to political missteps, professional failures and personal dramas?Alexander Lee reveals the man behind the myth, following him from cradle to grave, from his father’s penury and the abuse he suffered at a teacher’s hands, to his marriage and his many affairs (with both men and women), to his political triumphs and, ultimately, his fall from grace and exile. In doing so, Lee uncovers hitherto unobserved connections between Machiavelli’s life and thought. He also reveals the world through which Machiavelli moved: from the great halls of Renaissance Florence to the court of the Borgia pope, Alexander VI, from the dungeons of the Stinche prison to the Rucellai gardens, where he would begin work on some of his last great works.As much a portrait of an age as of a uniquely engaging man, Lee’s gripping and definitive biography takes the reader into Machiavelli’s world – and his work – more completely than ever before.

    Fresco painter Jacopo Torni longs to make his mark in the world. But while his peers enjoy prestigious commissions, his meager painting jobs are all earmarked to pay down gambling debts.When Jacopo hears of a competition to create Florence's greatest sculpture, he pins all his hopes on a collaboration with his boyhood companion, Michelangelo Buonarroti. But will the frustrated artist ever emerge from the shadow of his singularly gifted friend?

     Surrounded by glimmering olive groves and embellished with flower-lined alleys, it would be easy to believe that Santa Lucia is as idyllic as it appears. After all, what drama could possibly unfold in such a picturesque village? As it happens, Santa Lucia is rife with secrets that are swapped over espresso at the local bar. There is much to discuss. Massimo’s sudden and powerful romance shocks the villagers who doubt his motives. Tragedy upon tragedy have rocked Luciano’s world until he is at risk of losing everything. Young Fatima wrestles with how to balance her devotion to her Moroccan family with her desire to integrate into her new Italian home. Her best friend Elisa’s very existence violates her family’s sense of honor. Chiara’s past threatens to corrupt her budding love affair. Edo ‘s wild streak is as dangerous as it is mystifying. Magda’s shocking history can’t stay hidden forever. And the mayor is too preoccupied to notice that his wife is carrying on an affair with the town handyman. Santa Lucia is the sweeping tale of a town on the brink of change and the villagers that call it home. By the author of the bestselling Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center, Santa Lucia similarly transports readers to the lush green hills of Italy. "From the very first paragraph, I found myself intrigued. Michelle Damiani paints a complete portrait of Santa Lucia, her inhabitants and the aura of Umbria itself. The plot is well fleshed out, takes surprising and unexpected turns. It was difficult to lay the story aside. I can hardly wait for her next installment of the story of Santa Lucia. Bravo, Michelle Damiani." "One of those books that keeps you awake at night reading. Loved the characters and the story." "This was a fantastic read. I could not put it down. The way it ends leaves me longing for Michelle to write the sequel. Her descriptions of Santa Lucia are like reading poetry. Great Great read. You will love it!"

    In these illuminating pages, Frances Mayes, the author of Under the Tuscan Sun and many other bestsellers, and New York Times travel writer Ondine Cohane reveal an Italy that only the locals know, filled with top destinations and unforgettable travel experiences in every region. From the colorful coastline of Cinque Terre and the quiet ports of the Aeolian Islands to the Renaissance architecture of Florence and the best pizza in Rome, every section features insider secrets and off-the-beaten-path recommendations (for example, a little restaurant in Piedmont known for its tajarin, a pasta that is the perfect bed for the region's celebrated truffles). Here are the best places to stay, eat, and tour, paired with the rich history of each city, hillside town, and unique terrain. Along the way, you'll make stops at the country's hidden gems--art galleries, local restaurants, little-known hiking trails, spas, and premier spots for R&R. Inspiring and utterly unique, this vivid treasury is a must-have for anyone who wants to experience the best of Italy.

    Severely wounded, Will was rescued by Italian partisans and one, a beautiful girl, tended his injuries until he had the strength to rejoin the U.S. troops. Tormented and haunted by his decisions and actions during wartime, Will knows he has unfinished missions in Italy to complete. The passage of time and years of carrying this unfulfilled need have molded Will into a bitter, angry man.Seventy-five years later, Will’s spunky thirty-two-year-old neighbor, Sophie Sparke, faces disaster in her life. Everything is going wrong—her job, her love life, even her dog. Part of the problem is that confident and fiercely independent Sophie lets her quick mouth get her into trouble.Grouchy, mean-spirited Will finagles Sophie into traveling with him to Tuscany to find the partisan who saved his life. Will also secretly hopes to confront the demons his wartime actions created. Sophie and Will comb enchanting Tuscan hill towns on an improbable and unfolding mission with few clues to aid them. Will’s passionate tenacity drives their quest and in the process exposes their darkest secrets. The journey alters the course of their lives, and Will and Sophie find more than they had imagined in the hills of Tuscany.

    An affair ends painfully at a dinner table, an actress's past comes crashing down on her during an audition, an unhappy wife seeks respite in a historic palazzo sublet. Two starkly different couples imagine parenthood during a Greek island holiday and a young girl returns from rehab, deciding to set out anew with a traveling circus. A man in crisis draws his ex-lover deep into the New Mexico desert.With spellbinding clarity, the six masterly stories in Animal Spirit inhabit the minds and hearts of Marciano's characters. They chronicle deeply human moments of realization and recognition, indelible instants of irrevocable change--epiphanies sometimes sparked by our connection with animals and the primal power they show us.

    I was reaching my goals one by one becoming more and more successful every day. People begged me to work with them. Money was pouring in as if I was a damn King. I was surrounded by women who were willing to do anything to please me.I really thought I was happy then.Until one day Angie fell asleep in my arms, and I finally figured out what real happiness is about.She came back into my life and it changed me completely. She showed me that there is so much more in life to live for besides money and success. She gave me the strength to believe in love.And then she walked away...And now I don't care about the money anymore. I don't care how much I can lose, because the most valuable gift of life I have already found.I'll do anything to get Angie to come back to me.One Month Forever is the final book in The Tuscany Nights Series and should be read after One Month Only, book one and One Month More, book two.

    The only problem? Her instant attraction to widowed single dad and owner Zach Merrill! Olivia can see that guarded Zach’s locked his heart away for the sake of his little girl. But watching the way he dotes on his daughter has Olivia hoping she could have a place in this ready-made family.From Harlequin Romance: Be swept away by glamorous and heartfelt love stories. “I could go on about how much I enjoyed this book, but…I will sum up by saying that this is an excellent debut for Ella Hayes, and…is wonderfully told to the point that it will stick in the memory after the last page has been turned.”—Goodreads on Her Brooding Scottish Heir

    

    Many local Italians supported the effort, nurturing a standard tale of nationalist fanaticism. However, Dominique Kirchner Reill shows that practical realities, not nationalist ideals, were in the driver's seat. Support for annexation was largely a result of the daily frustrations of life in a "ghost state" set adrift by the fall of the empire. D'Annunzio's ideology and proto-fascist charisma notwithstanding, what the people of Fiume wanted was prosperity, which they associated with the autonomy they had enjoyed under Habsburg sovereignty. In these twilight years between the world that was and the world that would be, many across the former empire sought to restore the familiar forms of governance that once supported them. To the extent that they turned to nation-states, it was not out of zeal for nationalist self-determination but in the hope that these states would restore the benefits of cosmopolitan empire.Against the too-smooth narrative of postwar nationalism, The Fiume Crisis demonstrates the endurance of the imperial imagination and carves out an essential place for history from below.

    This was always the dream and promise made to each other.Ilene and Gary Modica sold almost everything they owned to spend a year in the land of Gary’s Italian grandparents, to walk where they walked, eat what they ate, and live in the shadow of history.Few places evoke the stirring passions and romance of Italy, where the simple act of sharing a glass of wine, a perfect pizza, and good conversation is an art form. Be prepared to immerse yourself in this beautiful country and live vicariously through the couple's authentic encounters.You’ll also discover:How their dream and desire for a genuine experience with a true Italian family came unexpectedly trueHow, through this journey, they eat and drink their year through Italy visiting eight regions and forty-six cities, including Sicilia and their new Italian birthplace.Our Italian Journey is a travel memoir of an adventure that has forever changed the lives of this Arizona couple. Through experiences and humor, they invite you along their spellbinding journey, exploring quaint villages steeped in tradition and local culture. Come take a glimpse of Italy through the eyes of these new Italian citizens and experience firsthand the Italian zest for living “La Dolce Vita,” in this compelling read.

    Thanks to the twin blows of the Protestant Reformation and the Thirty Years War, Rome, celebrated both as the Eternal City and Caput Mundi (the head of the world) had lost its pre-eminent place in Europe. Then a new Pope, Alexander VII, fired with religious zeal, political guile and a mania for building, determined to restore the prestige of his church by making Rome the must-visit destination for Europe's intellectual, political and cultural elite. To help him do so, he enlisted the talents of Gianlorenzo Bernini, already celebrated as the most important living artist: no mean feat in the age of Rubens, Rembrandt and Velazquez.Together, Alexander VII and Bernini made the greatest artistic double act in history, inventing the concept of soft power and the bucket list destination. Bernini and Alexander's creation of Baroque Rome as a city more beautiful and grander than since the days of the Emperor Augustus continues to delight and attract.'A total delight' - Simon Jenkins.

    I just needed help to save my company from bankruptcy. But sometimes you get even more than what you were asking for.Ricardo not only helped with his money and connections but also gave me the other kind of pleasures, the ones I never knew I needed. And now I became addicted to them. From the very beginning, I knew this relationship wouldn't last forever; we have just one month to be together, and this fairytale will be over.He never promised me anything, and I never asked for more. There's only one problem: I think I have already fallen in love with him...One Month More is the second book in The Tuscany Nights Series and should be read following One Month Only.

    She decides to have one last summer of fun before buckling down, so heads off to beautiful Positano in Italy. There, despite all her good intentions, she can't help but fall a little in love with the very handsome, but rather naughty, Luca and, as the summer draws to a close, Libby has some big decisions to make. Should she head back home and face up to her responsibilities? Is Luca really the right man to start a family with, or has the perfect man been right in front of her eyes all this time? And, when it comes to affairs of the heart, is it really better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?

    "Shore captures not only the war and politics of the time period, but the romantic lens through which the characters view their world" (Kirkus Reviews)"'Terribilita' is a term used to describe how a piece of art evokes emotion from a viewer, be it awe, terror, or a subtler reaction. Good art makes you feel. Author Ben Wyckoff Shore delivers plenty of thrills, chills, and romance in his novel TERRIBILITA." (IndieReader)The rebel caprices of Enzo Ferrando have dire consequences. His father, the Risorgimento war hero is gunned down on his veranda. His son Lucca is forced into hiding as a deckhand on a merchant ship. Enzo himself is conscripted into the Italian army and forced to wage war on the African Horn, yet he yearns to take vengeance on his father's killers and to reunite with his son.Set in the second half of the 19th century, Terribilita is a coming of age tale about family, and an examination of the redemptive power of violence. In this drum tight historical fiction novel, readers will encounter Bashi-Bazouk mercenaries, blackbirding pirates, Ethiopian army hordes, and historical figures of the era.Cinder Block Publishing is contributing a portion of the book's profits to the American Red Cross for Disaster Relief.

    An Irish mother, an Italian herbalist, and a Scottish midwife come together on the night of a difficult birth, and the result of their union has effects that echo through the generations.

    The sources history left for us to read are often biased one way or the other as he is the first Christian Roman emperor. His own propaganda paints a bright picture of his actions and his personality, while on the other side, we have his political enemies who paint him in much darker colors. All of the sources available to us are either fully supporting Constantine or are strictly against him. There is no objective work that will give us any true insight on how Constantine lived, what he was thinking, and what his true motives were. In truth, contemporary historians served the purpose of writing what the people wanted to hear. They followed the latest political and cultural trends, and they did not care too much about objectivism and truth.The questions like what sort of a man was Constantine and what exactly did he achieve during his reign are still baffling historians. It is through tracking the right material and reading in between the lines that we are able to give some sort of answer. We have to use our common sense to discern the truth in the pages of propaganda and paint a new, more accurate picture of Constantine the Great, his deeds, and his persona.In Constantine the Great: A Captivating Guide to the First Christian Roman Emperor and How He Ruled the Roman Empire, you will discover topics such asThe Early Life of Constantine the GreatEarly RuleCivil WarsConstantine, the Lavish AdministratorThe Man behind the EmperorConstantinopleConstantine and ChristianityLate Rule and DeathAnd much, much more!

    Corruption, incest, ruthlessness, avarice and vicious cruelty - all have been associated with their name. But the story of this remarkable family is far more than a tale of sensational depravities - it also marks the golden age of the Italian Renaissance and a decisive turning point in European history. From the family's Spanish roots and the papacy of Rodrigo Borgia, to the lives of his infamous offspring, Lucrezia and Cesare - the hero who dazzled Machiavelli, but also the man who befriended Leonardo da Vinci - Paul Strathern tells the captivating story of this great dynasty and the world in which they flourished.

    Frequent changes in topography, elevation, and weather influence each vintage and every winemaker has an interpretation of the evolving volcanic landscape. This is part of what makes Etna so exciting. The wines are as inviting as the terrain. For millennia the mountain served as a backdrop in the development of Europe. Today, the UNESCO Heritage Site is a destination for the world. American wine expert Benjamin Spencer goes beyond the vines to explore the history and rebirth of the region that has everyone talking about Sicily.

    Cooking here reflects life: it is a slow and relaxed affair. Meat is almost always slow roasted over an open fire, often on a rustic spit. Cheese is made and matured slowly, using age-old methods and tools. Beans and legumes, and most vegetables too are cooked long and slow, extracting all their sweetness. There is no sense of urgency about anything. The recipes in this book don't take long to make, but you can taste the ethos behind every one of them – one which invites you to slow down, to enjoy yourself, to nourish yourself with food, friends, and family. Try your hand at Roasted eggplants with honey, mint, garlic & burrata, or a fresh, zesty salad of Celery, orange, anchovy and hazelnut, followed by Malloreddus (the shell-shaped pasta from the region) with crab, saffron and tomato, or a Roast chicken stuffed with ricotta and chard. If you're craving something sweet, follow up with an Almond panna cotta with poached apricots, or a bowl of Mascarpone and sour cherry ice cream. Each of these recipes, and the stories behind them, will transport you to the glittering, turquoise waters and laid-back lifestyle of this Italian paradise. With beautiful design, photography, full color illustrations and joyful anecdotes throughout, Bitter Honey is a vacation, a cookbook and a window onto a covetable lifestyle in the sun – all rolled into one.

    How was the war in Europe fought over the course of seven long, arduous years? What led to Germany’s early sustained gains, and what eventually stymied its advances? Why did the war in Europe unfold the way it did, and what socio-economic factors led to Germany’s unconditional surrender after millions of lives were lost?For award-winning Professor David R. Stone of the U.S. Naval War College, it all boils down to a matter of strategy. Strategic choices—political ones, economic ones, military ones—are the organizing principles that can help any of us make sense of the war in Europe. “Political and military leaders had to make hard decisions,” Professor Stone says. “We can learn a lot by looking at those choices.”World War II: Battlefield Europe is Professor Stone’s expansive 24-lecture exploration of the 20th century’s defining conflict. Designed in partnership with HISTORY® and using a distinctly European perspective (in which the United States is a supporting player instead of a main character), this course provides a fresh lens through which to study the European Theater’s major battles, larger-than-life personalities, twists of fate, and tales of intrigue. You’ll uncover the strategic decisions behind U-boat assaults, urban bombing campaigns, Operation Barbarossa, D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, the invasion of Italy, the French resistance, the fall of Berlin, V-2 rockets, and so much more. By the end of the last lecture, you’ll better understand why the war in Europe unfolded the way it did—and why its legacy resonates for all players down to this very day.While World War II had two theaters of combat, the European Theater of 1939 to 1945 was the violent core of this global conflict between the forces of totalitarianism and those of freedom. It was on the European continent where Nazi Germany began its project of expansion and murder. It was on the European continent where Allied and Axis forces clashed at Stalingrad, el-Alamein, Anzio, and Normandy. And it was on the European continent where Nazi Germany was ultimately defeated and the stage was set for the Cold War that would consume the post-war world.Strategic Looks at Epic BattlesIn developing World War II: Battlefield Europe, Professor Stone came up with the conservative estimate that there are over 300,000 books and 30,000 scholarly articles dealing with World War II. It’s a conflict that’s so enormous, no one can master it all at once.That’s why these lectures dig deep into the European Theater of war, and specifically the real-life military and political strategies behind some of the war’s most definitive battles.The Battle of Britain: From the second half of 1940 through most of 1941, the British Royal Air Force and its German equivalent, the Luftwaffe, waged a desperate struggle for control of the skies over England. Dubbed the Battle of Britain by Winston Churchill, the fight raises a number of important strategic questions, including whether Germany’s shift from attacking the RAF to bombing British cities (which appealed to Hitler’s desire to make Britain suffer) might have cost the Nazis their chance at victory.The Battle of Stalingrad: While Stalingrad (known today as the city of Volgograd) was one of World War II’s most decisive battles, the regional industrial center in the southeastern section of European Russia wasn’t important in itself. But the city sits where the Volga River takes a big swing westward as it flows south into the Caspian Sea, which meant the Germans couldn’t let the city remain in Soviet hands as it was too big a threat to the flank of their push to grab the oil fields around the Azerbaijani city of Baku.The D-Day Invasion: Training for war is, naturally, serious business. It was even more so for the Allied invasion of Europe. Two months before the landing at Utah Beach, 750 American soldiers died at Slapton Sands in southwest England during a training exercise, which was attacked by the Germans. Because a number of the dead Americans had been briefed on the D-Day invasion plans, their bodies had to be recovered to ensure they hadn’t been captured and the plan wasn’t compromised.The Battle of the Atlantic: What finally turned the tide in favor of Allied submarines and sea forces? Much of the eventual victory was due to technological developments, including better sonar and radar with which to find enemy subs; a forward-firing battery of depth charges known as “the hedgehog”; and a torpedo known as “Fido” (deliberately called a mine to be misleading to the enemy), which could track submerged submarines and, more important, could be dropped from Allied aircraft.Provocative Questions, Illuminating AnswersA large part of military strategy isn’t just executing plans, but learning lessons from both victory and defeat. Professor Stone contextualizes the defining moments of World War II by illustrating what the various armies on the European continent took away from their clashes.For example, after the Soviet victory at the Battle of Moscow in 1941, Hitler, who’d always had trouble taking the advice of military professionals, fired his army commander-in-chief and made himself the German army’s supreme commander. Stalin, on the other hand, came to the right conclusion: Civilian leaders should trust military professionals to make the decisions they’re not competent to make.Throughout World War II: Battlefield Europe, you’ll get the opportunity to explore challenging and provocative questions about why the European Theater turned out the way it did. Using military and historical expertise, Professor Stone uncovers answers to these and other long-simmering issues.How did European anti-Semitism evolve from a belief system rooted in religion to one rooted in race and biology?What kept other European powers from re-engaging Germany and stopping Hitler long before he grew too powerful?Why did Hitler break his non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union—and what made him think such a radical move would work?Could the Allied forces have done anything to stop, or even just to slow down, the horrors of the Holocaust?Why, with Berlin under siege and German defeat inevitable, did Hitler keep fighting—and why did his army let him do it?A Definitive Learning ExperienceWorld War II: Battlefield Europe puts you in the heat of battle alongside an award-winning military historian. In his role as Professor of Strategy and Policy at the U.S. Naval War College, Professor Stone is adept at helping laypeople understand the secret mechanics of warfare: how decisions are made, how forces move, and how battles are won (and lost).In addition to Professor Stone’s brilliant scholarship, these lectures are powered by HISTORY’s extensive, high-quality coverage of World War II. Strategic maps, photographs, film footage, and illustrated recreations make this course a definitive learning experience unlike anything The Great Courses has ever before produced.“Informed citizens need to understand their history,” says Professor Stone. With its profound effect on the world for decades following the conflict, World War II is a central part of that history.

    The wedding was a carefully stage-managed affair, capped with a blessing by Mussolini himself. Yet only three years later, after being promoted to commander of the Black Shirts, Teruzzi renounced his wife. In fascist Italy, a Catholic country with no divorce law, he could only dissolve the marriage by filing for an annulment through the medieval procedures of the Church Court. The proceedings took an ominous turn when Mussolini joined Hitler: Lilliana Teruzzi was Jewish, and fascist Italy would soon introduce its first race laws.The Perfect Fascist pivots from the intimate story of a tempestuous seduction and inconvenient marriage--brilliantly reconstructed through family letters and court records--to a riveting account of Mussolini's rise and fall. It invites us to see in the vain, loyal, lecherous, and impetuous Attilio Teruzzi, a decorated military officer, an exemplar of fascism's New Man. Why did he abruptly discard the woman he had so eagerly courted? And why, when the time came to find another partner, did he choose another Jewish woman as his would-be wife? In Victoria de Grazia's engrossing account, we see him vacillating between the will of his Duce and the dictates of his heart.De Grazia's landmark history captures the seductive appeal of fascism and shows us how, in his moral pieties and intimate betrayals, his violence and opportunism, Teruzzi is a forefather of the illiberal politicians of today.

    Peter’s Basilica, and the Trevi Fountain. Yet this ancient city’s allure is due as much to its rich, unbroken history as to its extraordinary array of landmarks. Countless incarnations and eras merge in the Roman cityscape. With a history spanning nearly three millennia, no other place can quite match the resilience and reinventions of the aptly nicknamed Eternal City. In this unique and visually engaging book, Jessica Maier considers Rome through the eyes of mapmakers and artists who have managed to capture something of its essence over the centuries. Viewing the city as not one but ten “Romes,” she explores how the varying maps and art reflect each era’s key themes. Ranging from modest to magnificent, the images comprise singular aesthetic monuments like paintings and grand prints as well as more popular and practical items like mass-produced tourist plans, archaeological surveys, and digitizations. The most iconic and important images of the city appear alongside relatively obscure, unassuming items that have just as much to teach us about Rome’s past. Through 140 full-color images and thoughtful overviews of each era, Maier provides an accessible, comprehensive look at Rome’s many overlapping layers of history in this landmark volume. The first English-language book to tell Rome’s rich story through its maps, The Eternal City beautifully captures the past, present, and future of one of the most famous and enduring places on the planet.

    His “Copernican revolution”—the proposal that working class struggles against exploitation propel capitalist development, which can only be understood as a reaction that seeks to harness this antagonism—has inspired dissident leftists around the world.Tronti’s influence as a theorist thus already reaches far beyond Italy to activists and writers working in different sectors on different problems historically and geographically. While his imposing and acclaimed Workers and Capital has only recently appeared in English translation, Tronti has influenced many of the most creative social and political theorists of our time. Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt have long acknowledged the influence of Tronti on their thinking, drawing especially on his inversion of strategy and tactics in their influential collaborations. Tronti’s work in the 1960s also furnished important building blocks for a Marxist feminist critique of unwaged labor—as developed by Mariarosa dalla Costa, Silvia Federici, and many others working on social reproduction theory—as Tronti showed how capitalist control extends beyond the factory to all of society. Fred Moten and Stefano Harney have echoed Tronti’s calls for a radical antagonism “within and against” institutions and the state. The Weapon of Organization is a crucial introduction to Tronti, presenting a variety of never-before-translated texts—personal letters, public talks, published articles. With an incisive and provocative introduction that situates Tronti and highlights his relevance to contemporary political struggle, Anastasi translates and restores key writing from the birth of Italian operaismo—days of street fighting and theorizing for a renewed age of revolution. Tronti’s goal, Anastasi writes, was not to become a revered thinker but to participate in the destruction of capitalist society.

    

    At last, that wait is over. Never before available in its complete form in English, Buonassisi's landmark work in John Alcorn's famed design represents a lost gem of classical Italian gastronomy and publishing, ready to dazzle an all-new generation. Featuring modern translations of all 1,001 recipes, The Pasta Codex incorporates research from every region of Italy and uses every noodle shape and form--flat, shaped, rolled, stuffed--and both dried and fresh pasta. There's never been a more authentic and exhaustive look at the world's favorite food.Coded by ingredient--Pasta with Vegetables, Pasta with Vegetables and Dairy, Pasta with Fish, Pasta with Meat, and so on--each recipe is easy to use without detailed knowledge of Italian history or geography. These are classic dishes from homes and kitchens across Italy, presented plainly in Buonassisi's delightfully gossipy voice, with no chef-speak here to confuse or dilute the authentic enjoyment of good food.

     Free History BONUS Inside! Nero’s extravagance has become nothing short of legendary. In its day, it was incredibly destructive to his people, particularly after the Great Fire of Rome, a fire that he may have even started. Instead of assisting the ten districts that had been damaged by the fire, Nero took advantage of the extra space to build himself a golden palace. He murdered, among others, his own mother, his ex-wife, and his stepbrother. He was additionally a rapist, a child molester, and a brutal abuser. But he was also an artist; at least, he believed himself to be one, and he had wanted to be one ever since he was a child. But an unlucky roll of the dice of fate ripped him from his aunt’s comfortable home and dumped him in the Roman palace, and eventually, he was thrown onto the Roman throne in 54 CE. The next fourteen years would be some of the worst in Roman history, showcasing the very worst of humanity. Because the truth is that Nero thought he was an artist. But history reveals that he was little more than a monster. In Nero: A Captivating Guide to the Last Emperor of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and How He Ruled the Roman Empire, you will discover topics such as The First Emperors Exile Agrippina Pulls the Strings Matricide Right off the Rails Rome Ablaze Regret The Last Killing And much, much more! So if you want to learn more about Nero, scroll up and click the "add to cart" button!

    Amadeo Bordiga (1899-1970) was an Italian Marxist theoretician, who played a major role in the ideological development of the post-1917 Socialist revolution.He is well known as one of the last Comintern members to criticize Stalin to his face and live to tell the tale, most notably referred to as "the gravedigger of the revolution" during a 1926 party conference.In Dialogue with Stalin, Bordiga carefully dissects the economic state of the USSR under Stalin, and lays forward the capitalist nature of the USSR.

    

    Even fewer were able to make them shiver just by mentioning their name. In fact, only one enemy of Rome managed to engrave such fear into their bones. That was Carthage, sometimes called the Carthaginian Empire. It was a formidable state that stretched across northern Africa, from Algeria and Tunisia to the shores of Morocco and southern Spain. In its heyday, it was a formidable force that controlled much of the western Mediterranean. As such, it was the first real obstacle to the rise of the Roman state, the only one which almost brought it down before it even became an ancient superpower. Hannibal Barca, the most famous Carthaginian leader, was at one point in front of the gates of Rome. Because of that, the Carthaginian Empire, usually personified by Hannibal himself, is typically seen and described as the great foe of Rome, one of the rare daunting opponents the Romans faced.However, despite the truth behind such sentiments, Carthage was much more than just an enemy of Rome. It was a thriving state, with its own culture and way of life. Its people were more than just soldiers. Among them were merchants, artists, artisans, priests, farmers, and much more. They built temples and palaces, houses and markets, and they erected entire cities across their not-so-small empire. In fact, behind the visage of Carthage as the adversary of the Romans lays an entire civilization worthy of our attention. Uncovering it from the shrouded veils of the past will not only help us understand Carthage itself, as well as its conflicts with Rome, but it will also give us a better comprehension of the ancient world as a whole. This guide will try to do precisely that, paint both sides of the coin that is the Carthaginian Empire, hopefully sparking your interest to find out more about both Carthage and history in general.In Carthage: A Captivating Guide to the Carthaginian Empire and Its Conflicts with the Ancient Greek City-States and the Roman Republic in the Sicilian Wars and Punic Wars, you will discover topics such asA New City in the WestBecoming a Mediterranean PowerFighting for Control over SicilyFrom Allies to EnemiesFrom Allies to EnemiesSuccumbing to the WoundsThe Carthaginian Society and GovernmentArmy of the Carthaginian RepublicThe Punic CivilizationAnd much, much more!

    They say bad things come in threes...The day after an earthquake and tsunami have ravaged Venice, Malin Le Cordier, a successful English maritime trader, sails into the city with plans to mature a coup on behalf of Edward III and Genoa. His time? Short. His guilt? Strong. Keeping the coup a secret from those he loves most weighs heavy on his soul. But Venice is a place with secrets and revenge flows through the city like its canals. For his sake and those he is bound to, it is best he learn to navigate it. And quickly.Unbeknownst to Malin, there is someone powerful in the city who seeks revenge on Edward III on behalf of his family. Well-situated, he operates under covert circumstances, monitoring Malin’s every move - and playing his own long game, merely waiting for the perfect time to strike.Combining greed and guilt, revenge and undeclared love, this is one trip that Malin may not live to regret.

    Watched by Mussolini himself, on 9 March 1941 the Italians launched their Spring Offensive, designed to stem four months of humiliating reverses. The objective was a pair of parallel valleys dominated by the Greek-held Hill 731 that had to be taken at all costs.The Italian Eighth Corps, part of Geloso's 11th Army, had the task of seizing the heights, spearheaded by 38 (Puglie) Division. Holding the position was the Greek 1 Division of II Corps, with 4 and 6 Division on the flanks.For 17 days, after a massive artillery barrage (which reduced the hill's height by 6 metros), the Italians threw themselves with great courage against the Evzones on the hill, to be repeatedly smashed with appalling losses. It was an Iwo Jima-type merciless fight at close quarters, where bayonets held the place of honor but the battered Greeks held.Mussolini had wanted a spring victory to impress the Fuhrer. Instead, the bloody debacle of Hill 731 could well have contributed to Hitler's decision to postpone his invasion of Russia by at least four weeks, a costly delay.

    At its demise in 1860, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies boasted a treasury of gold reserves exceeding those of all the other Italian states combined, and the largest royal palace in Europe, at Caserta outside Naples. It was the most industrialized state in the Italian peninsula, home to Italy's first railroad, first public pension plan, first unemployment benefit plan, and first recycling system.The Two Sicilies has left its mark on what the world perceives as Italian culture. Spaghetti, pizza and one of Europe's first chocolate recipes were born in this region, along with the first vernacular Italian literary language. It was from this part of Italy that most Italians migrated to the United States, Canada, Argentina and elsewhere at the beginning of the twentieth century, and this book complements studies of family history by those having roots in this region.In this volume, a leading historian brings us the true story of a semi-forgotten kingdom and its people. This long-awaited book will be of interest to Italophiles, travelers, armchair historians, researchers, Italian descendants around the world, and to anybody curious about the history of a unique region that traces its origins from ancient Magna Graecia and the medieval, multicultural kingdom founded by Norman adventurers during the twelfth century. It is a useful reference for libraries and an excellent introduction for students.In these pages is the untold story of the "other" Italy, the most typically Mediterranean region of a diverse country. While many histories of modern Italy focus on Rome and the cities to its north, the stars of this book are Naples and Palermo.Even readers familiar with Italy may find a few surprises here. This is an accurate, candid, unvarnished history that transcends clichés, stereotypes and clouded misperceptions. It includes a timeline, photographs, several maps, genealogical tables, seven informative appendices on such topics as coinage and heraldry, and a bibliography.Until now, books written in English about the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies have tended to focus on the ruling dynasty or arcane topics such as its orders of chivalry. There have also been specialized studies of the Italian unification movement and books about Italian history broadly. This is the first book in English that considers the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in a general way. Much of the information was drawn from original sources such as royal decrees and eyewitness accounts of events.The story of the Two Sicilies is the story of every family of southern Italy. It is an epic to be cherished for all time. Here is the identity of a people and a culture.

    With thirty-nine stories by nineteen authors, many translated for the first time, this anthology presents tales from the whole genre and period. Here we meet a rich cast of humble peasants and shrewd craftsmen, frustrated wives, libidinous friars, ill-fated lovers, and vengeful nobles. These works had a considerable impact in English, and the selection includes tales that have provided sources for Chaucer, Shakespeare, Webster, Marston, Dryden, Byron and Keats.The typical novella is situated in a precise time and place and features people who either existed historically or are presumed to have done so. The subject-matter, whether ribald or sentimental, comic or tragic, often reflects the social and economic conditions of its age and thus the novella has been seen as a crucial stage in the development of fictional realism and the emergence of the novel.

    Exiled in death as in life, the Florentine poet has hardly rested in peace over the centuries. Like a saint's relics, his bones have been stolen, recovered, reburied, exhumed, examined, and, above all, worshiped. Actors in this graveyard history range from Lorenzo de' Medici, Michelangelo, and Pope Leo X to the Franciscan friar who hid the bones, the stone mason who accidentally discovered them, and the opportunistic sculptor who accomplished what princes, popes, and politicians could not: delivering to Florence a precious relic of the native son it had banished.In Dante's Bones, Guy Raffa narrates for the first time the complete course of the poet's hereafter, from his death and burial in Ravenna in 1321 to a computer-generated reconstruction of his face in 2006. Dante's posthumous adventures are inextricably tied to major historical events in Italy and its relationship to the wider world. Dante grew in stature as the contested portion of his body diminished in size from skeleton to bones, fragments, and finally dust: During the Renaissance, a political and literary hero in Florence; in the nineteenth century, the ancestral father and prophet of Italy; a nationalist symbol under fascism and amid two world wars; and finally the global icon we know today.

    

    

    From his earliest productions to his more recent transnational works, Sorrentino has paid homage to Italy's cinematic past while telling stories of masculine characters whose sense of self seems to be on the brink of dissolution. Together with his usual collaborators (including cinematographer Luca Bigazzi and editor Cristiano Travagliolo) and actors (chief among them Toni Servillo), Sorrentino has produced an incisive depiction of the contemporary European condition by means of an often spectacular postclassical style that nevertheless continues postwar Italian film's tradition of political commitment.This book is a critical examination of Sorrentino's work, focusing on his emergence as a preeminent transnational auteur. Russell J. A. Kilbourn offers close readings of Sorrentino's feature films and television output from One Man Up (2001) to The Young Pope (2016) and Loro (2018), featuring in-depth analyses of the director's exuberant and intensified film style. Addressing the crucial themes of Sorrentino's output--including a masculine subject defined by a melancholic awareness of its own imminent demise, and a critique of the conventional cinematic representation of women--Kilbourn illuminates Sorrentino's ability to suffuse postmodern elegies for the humanist worldview with a sense of social awareness and responsibility. Kilbourn also foregrounds Sorrentino's contributions to the ongoing transformations of cinematic realism and the Italian and European art cinema traditions more broadly. The first English-language study of the acclaimed director's oeuvre, The Cinema of Paolo Sorrentino demonstrates why he is considered one of the most dynamic figures making films today.

    Its rationale rests on two main premises: the great topicality of both Italian contemporary philosophy (the so-called “Italian Theory”) and of the animal question (the so-called “animal turn” in the humanities and the social sciences) in the contemporary philosophical panorama. The volume not only intersects these two axes, illuminating Italian Theory through the animal question, but also proposes an original thesis: that the animal question is a central and founding issue of contemporary Italian philosophy. It combines historical-descriptive chapters with analyses of the theme in several philosophical branches, such as biopolitics, Posthumanism, Marxism, Feminism, Antispeciesism and Theology, and with original contributions by renowned authors of contemporary Italian (animal) philosophy. The volume is both historical-descriptive and speculative and is intended for a broad academic audience, embracing both Italian studies and Animal studies at all levels.