The Italians by Barzini, Luigi

(London: Hamish Hamilton, 1972) 241902940. 8vo; orignal purple boards; price-clipped pictorial dustwrapper; endpaper maps; pp. xvi + 352, incl. index. Dustwrapper slightly edgeworn; trace of spotting; earlier owner's name signed on front free endpaper; club library bookplate to title page. Very good condition. "Doctor Barzini shows us Italy through the eyes of foreigners, from Montaigne and the medieval travellers to Stendhal and Norman Douglas, and through the eyes of the Italians themselves, from Cola di Rienzo to Cagliostro. But, most important of all, he shows us Italy from his own highly original point of view. Besides being a Deputy, and consequently ideally placed to comment on Italian politics, he is one of the most distinguished modern journalists, travelled, cultivated and perceptive, and this volume is the result of a lifetime of reflection on his fellow-countrymen. Although faced by the almost impossible task of explaining to the uninitiated the Italian paradox, he has nevertheless succeeded brilliantly. His book deserves to become the standard work on the Italians." .