Italy

Nicholas Doumanis is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of New South Wales, Australia

• Discussion of the diversity of Italy in the mid-19th century; the idea of "Italia" from ancient times to 1860; how Italy's ruling regimes tried to make a nation circa 1860-1900; why liberal Italy failed to "make Italians"; the nature of Italian nationalism circa 1900; how the fascists sought to "make" Italy; the impact of fascist attempts and why they failed; attempts to "make Italians" under the Republic; the impact of modern communications and other non-official sources for the growth of national consciousness since the war; the importance of the Italian diaspora; Italy today and the threat of devolution.

'Italy deserves to enhance the author's growing scholarly reputation. Doumanis suceeds in weaving considerable narrative detail into what is essentially a synthesis-and endorsement-of recent revisionist literature on modern Italian history.' History 'The level of historical detail does not obscure the main line of argument, which is to elucidate the particular path of Italy to nation formation as well as to suggest how nations and national identities are 'historical, mutable and contestable' and 'constantly in the making'. Doumanis casts light on the different societal, political, economic and cultural factors that combined, often in opposition to one another, in the formation of modern nations and nation-states in 19th and 20th century Europe, contesting earlier views on the historical inevitability of nations.This book offers a clear, concise, well-structured and critical account of the Italian path to nation formation that can serve as an important case-study reading to students of nationalism as well as a starting point for further research for students and scholars interested in the Italian case in particular.' Nations and Nationalism Volume 8 number 4 'Doumanis gives us two excellent books that challenge much writing on the subject of "the nation".' Taylor & Francis 10: 399-407 2003