The force of destiny book duggan

5.0 out of 5 stars A force yet to be fulfilled

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 May 2009

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A readable one-volume history of Italy since 1796. Duggan explains so well the poor constitutional decisions, made after Unification in 1860, as to give a sense of tragic inevitability by the time you get to the rise of Mussolinis Fascists. A major part of the problem is the attempted imposition, by a ruling elite, of the idea of nationhood on a population unwilling to share that vision, exacerbated by the repeated attempts to attain this by resort to force of arms, mostly with tragic consequences. Seldom does a history end with such a downbeat footnote, Duggan stating (p587)that the idea of "Italy" appears "...still too uncertain and contested an idea to provide the emotional core of a nation", uncannily echoing Metternichs 1847 description of Italy as only a geographical expression. The book is an excellent explanation of why Italy is as she is now. I also appreciate, as here, good maps in a history.

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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 31, 2012

This book presents a good overview of the main themes of decay, Risorgimento, decay, Fascism, decay, and stumbling parliamentary democracy that have hallmarked Italy's turbulent gestation over the past couple of centuries.

It is a largely top down history - focusing mainly on the writers, intellectuals, military leaders and politicians such as Mazzini, Cavour, Garibldi, Crispi and Mussolini, who have so crucially shaped Italy's progress from nationhood to fascism and beyond. Ordinary people receive fairly short shrift, are often herded together as a homogeneous block ('the peasants'), and sources documenting their experience are fairly limited except in certain sections.

Where the book triumphs is in delineating an intellectual pathway through the nationalistic ideas of the early 19th century -the poetry and prose that tried to grasp what a unified Italy might look like, and their practical manifestation in the Risorgimento as led by Garibaldi and Cavour.

The parliamentary decay in the oft neglected liberal period (1860-1919) is covered in some detail (the author is an expert on Crispi), with good accounts of the corruption and listlessness in Italian politics, and troublesome attempts to forge a cohesive sense of nationhood through the school system.

The failure of liberal democracy and the rise of fascism which capitalised upon this is covered in a decent but unremarkable overview. It is a good introduction to the rise, rule and fall of Mussolini but can, given its context within a wider history of Italy, only really amount to a competent overview of this fascinating period. Those wishing to extend their knowledge further would do well to seek out Mack Smith's biography of Mussolini.

The weakest part of the book is the post war period, a cursory and rather slapdash description of the economic growth and continuing political oscillations prevalent in modern Italy, with an overemphasis on the influence of the Mafia and rather little said about the more mainstream parliamentary processes.

Overall, a good overview of Italian history for a reader wishing to be more acquainted with the subject.