THE PURSUIT OF ITALY: A HISTORY OF A LAND, ITS REGIONS AND THEIR PEOPLES
Book ID/图书代码： 00200011B45911
English Summary/英文概要： Visiting a villa built by Lorenzo de Medici outside Pisa, David Gilmour fell into conversation about the unification of Italy with a distinguished former minister: ’"You know, Davide," he said in a low conspiratorial voice, as if nervously uttering a heresy, "Garibaldi did Italy a great disservice. If he had not invaded Sicily and Naples, we in the north would have the richest and most civilized state in Europe." After looking round the room at the other guests, he added in an even lower voice, "Of course to the south we would have a neighbour like Egypt."’ These words stayed in the author’s mind for a long time. The dream of a unified Italy, how and why it has never been more than a dream, became the subject of a book he has been thinking about and writing for the last twenty years. Was the elderly Italian right? "The Pursuit of Italy" traces the whole history of the Italian peninsula since the Romans in a wonderfully readable style, full of well-chosen stories and observations from personal experience, and peopled by many of the great figures of the Italian past, from Cicero and Virgil to Machiavelli and the Medici, Garibaldi and Cavour, and the rather less inspiring political figures of the 20th century. Gilmour gives a clear-eyed view of the Risorgimento, the pivotal event in modern Italian history, debunking the many absurd and influential myths which have grown up around it but including a particularly sympathetic portrait of Giuseppe Verdi, one of many cultural figures he treats. Gilmour shows that the glory of Italy has always lain in its regions, with their distinctive civic cultures, cuisine, art and identities. Similarly, most of the people of the peninsula have thought of themselves first as Tuscans, Venetians, Romans, Neapolitans or Sicilians and as Italians second, if at all. This, he argues, is where the strength of Italy lies rather than in misconceived ideas of unity. This wise and enormously engaging book explains the course of Italian history in a manner and with a coherence which no one with any interest in the country could fail to enjoy.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 這是一部展現意大利昔日和現在富饒土地，希望和夢想的令你大開眼界的歷史著作。
當（意大利的民族英雄）朱塞佩•加里波第獻身於義大利統一運動時，是否對國家造成了傷害？政治統一的目標是否存在著錯誤？這些問題的答案就在這部引人入勝的，獨創新穎的，記錄著意大利曾經的恢宏歷史篇章中。
大衛 吉爾摩的探索義大利幾個世紀以來歷史的，這部精彩的，可讀性歷史書籍中充滿了有趣的奇聞軼事，以及作者個人的看法，而且這部著作中還注入了義大利歷史上曾經的偉大人物 — — 從（古羅馬政治家、雄辯家、著作家）西塞羅和（古羅馬詩人）維吉爾到二十世紀的富有爭議的政治家。雖然作者本人對時代的英雄（意大利著名作曲家）朱塞佩 • 威爾第的充滿著溢美之詞，但從中還是揭示出這個國家的復興運動，是如何打破民族主義的神話。
吉爾摩介紹了義大利因其所處於地域，所具備的獨特藝術氣質、民間、特性和美食的文化光環。義大利的居民沒有把自己當作是意大利人，而是將自身融為托斯卡納和威尼斯，西西里和倫巴第、那不勒斯和熱那亞人的獨特氣質中。義大利的精神和文化力量仍會來自其所處的地域，而不是從其假想的，錯誤理解統一國家理念而來。(Sandy)
Awards/获奖情况：
About the Author/作者介绍： David Gilmour is the author of numerous works of literary and political history, including Curzon: Imperial Statesman (2003) and The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling (2002). He lives in Oxfordshire with his wife and four children.
Format:照片
Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：SOLD
Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE
Sales in other countries/其他国家销售情况：
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