Author Description

The Italian Risorgimento gives a succinct and original analysis of the period in Italian history (1815-60) known as the Risorgimento (or 'resurgence'). Although Italy's pre-revolutionary rulers were restored in 1825 after the defeat of Napoleon, this restoration was vigorously opposed by a number of liberal nationalist opposition groups. In 1860, following a war between, on the one hand, France and the Northern state of Piedmont and, on the other, the Austrian Empire, the Restoration states collapsed and Italy was unified under Piedmontese leadership. National unification was seen as the culminating event of Italy's 'resurgence' in the 19th century. In the last two decades, many of the assumptions of Risorgimento historiography have been challenged. The Italian Risorgimento is the first book on the subject to take a thematic rather than narrative approach and place the Italian experience in a broader European context.