Good history books exclusively about Italy written in English are hard to come by, but a History of Contemporary Italy is probably the best one available. Universities in English speaking countries rarely run courses solely dedicated to Italian history or politics, which goes along way to explaining why few academics have bothered to write books on the subject.
In this excellent work Ginsborg examines Italian society and politics from the last two years of the Second World War through to the 1980s. The fascist regime of Benito Mussolini had claimed that it was modernising the country's economy yet had done little
to change society. In those four decades or so Italy experienced some pronounced economic, political, and also social changes that transformed it into a modern almost secular republic.He evaluates the impact that Mussolini had upon the country, as well as the consequences of shattering defeat as the country was a battleground between the Allies and the Germans. He describes how much destruction was wrought in heavy fighting as the Allies besides
Italian resistance groups fought to expel the Germans. Yet out of defeat and devastation a new Italy emerged.His analysis of Italy's post – war transformation from a backward country to a rich member state of the EEC is astute. The country also went through a weakening of the importance of Roman Catholic influence especially from the 1960s. Ginsborg notes that such changes happened despite the difficulty the country had in finding governments that could hold office for more than a few months at a time.
He also explores the Italian economic miracle that was not as well known as the Japanese and West German ones plus a shift of much of the population to urban areas. The move to the cities was hastened and in turn enhanced economic growth.
If you want to learn about Italy between 1943 and 1980 then this is the book for you.
