{"product_id":"9781466801547","title":"The Pursuit of Italy: A History of a Land, Its Regions, and Their Peoples","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e's 2011 Books of the Year \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDid  Garibaldi do Italy a disservice when he helped its disparate parts  achieve unity? Was the goal of political unification a mistake? These  questions are asked and answered in a number of ways in this engaging,  original consideration of the many histories that contribute to the  brilliance-and weakness-of Italy today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDavid Gilmour's  wonderfully readable ex­ploration of Italian life over the centuries is  filled with provocative anecdotes as well as personal observations, and  is peopled with the great fig­ures of the Italian past-from Cicero and  Virgil to Dante and the Medicis, from Garibaldi and Cavour to the  controversial politicians of the twentieth century. Gilmour's wise  account of the Risorgimento, the pivotal epoch in modern Italian  history, debunks the nationalistic myths that surround it, though he  paints a sympathetic portrait of Giuseppe Verdi, a beloved hero of the  era. Gilmour shows that the glory of Italy has always lain in its  regions, with their distinc­tive art, civic cultures, identities, and  cuisines. Italy's inhabitants identified themselves not as Italians but  as Tuscans and Venetians, Sicilians and Lombards, Neapolitans and  Genoese. Italy's strength and culture still come from its regions rather  than from its misconceived, mishandled notion of a unified nation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith \u003ci\u003eThe Pursuit of Italy\u003c\/i\u003e,  David Gilmour has provided a coherent, persuasive, and entertain­ing  interpretation of the paradoxes of Italian life, past and present.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47129430622448,"sku":"9781466801547","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781466801547_p0.jpg?v=1763685163","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781466801547","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}