Includes bibliographical references (pages 387-458) and index.
The Italian enlightenment -- Italy and the French Revolution -- The first war for Italian unity -- A "geographical expression" -- Failed revolutions: the 1820s and 1830s -- Three models for unification -- The revolutions of 1848: the great shakeout -- Cavour and the Piedmontese solution -- Cavour's heirs: the "right" reigns -- Two "parliamentary dictators" -- Social and economic dilemmas -- The rise of socialism and the Giolittian Era -- The culture of the new Italy -- World War I and the Red biennium -- The rise of fascism -- Mussolini's Italy -- World War II and the resistance -- The structure of postwar Italy -- Postwar politics: "imperfect bipolarism" -- The economic miracle and its effects -- A style for the republic -- The "bloodless revolution" -- The Berlusconi phenomenon