Paul Ginsborg’s bestselling account of contemporary Italy chronicles this most recent and dynamic period in the country’s history. He examines the role of the family in Italian society and economy (a keystone in his interpretation), the insidious presence of the Mafia, the lasting influence of Catholicism, the importance of football and television in mass culture, as well as its often unstable politics. In 1992 the country seemed about to make a fresh start as widespread judicial enquiries led to the disgracing of the ruling political parties. It was not to be. Ginsborg brings Italy’s agitated political history right up to date to cover the victory of the controversial figure of Silvio Berlusconi in the elections of 2001.

ITALY AND ITS DISCONTENTS 1980-2001
By Paul Ginsborg
Published by Penguin Books in paperback, 30 January 2003, £9.99

'A tour de force...packed with material to think about and argue over.'
- Economist

'Excellent...Ginsborg compares the turbulent state of Italy with the condition of Britain during the same period.'
- Alexander Chancellor, Guardian

'For a careful and balanced account, there is no finer study than Paul Ginsborg's Italy and Its Discontents.'
- Perry Anderson, London Review of Books

'Thorough and perceptive...Ginsborg's skills at synthesis and his impressive grasp of the intricacies of Italian politics come into their own.'
- Caroline Moorehead, Spectator

'Essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand how and why Berlusconi came to power.'
- John Foot, Guardian

Italy and its Discontents analyses, for the first time, the events and changes that have occurred - for better or for worse - in Italy over the last two decades: from the decline and fall of Italy's traditional political parties - Christian Democrats, Socialists and Communists - to the beginning of Silvio Berlusconi's second government in May 2001.

How did Italy adapt to the world of changing technology and communications and the resulting shift in society and the economy in the early 1980s? How has Italy benefited from the EU? Why did the judges' battle to clean up Italian corruption fail? Why has Italy got the lowest birth rate in Europe? And how has Italy's attitude to the role of the family (which is central to Ginsborg's view of Italian history both in relation to society and the state) changed over the past twenty years?

The picture that Ginsborg paints is of a country that has battled to become more democratic and less menaced by the Mafia; that wants to be one of the economic heavy weights, and indeed in the 1980s temporarily overtook Britain as the fifth largest in the world; that wants to count for more in European politics, but tends to put private interest ahead of public morality.

Visitors to Italy will be familiar with Santa Croce, the Grand Canal, Pompeii, Michelangelo's David, the Tuscan hills, Chianti and the medieval towers of San Gimignano: they are places and images synonymous with Italy for many of us. But when we visit a country aren't we also curious to know what is happening there now? Italy and its Discontents feeds this curiosity.

PAUL GINSBORG is a leading contemporary Italian historian. He is currently Professor of Contemporary European History at the University of Florence and was formerly Reader in European Politics at Churchill College, Cambridge. He is the author of several books including the highly acclaimed A History of Contemporary Italy (1943-1988). Italy and Its Discontents continues that history. He lives in Florence with his family.

For further information, please contact: Louise Ball, Press Officer, Penguin Books, 020 7010 3156/louise.ball@penguin.co.uk