Antonio Gramsci: A Biography

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A historical biography of the Italian philosopher/politician Antonio Gramsci (1891-1973), considered one of the most important Marxist philosophers of the twentieth-century. As part of the Communist Lives series, Andrew Pearmain explores the life of Gramsci from his childhood, to his role in the newly formed Communist Party of Italy, and to his imprisonment and death in Turi di Bari, using recent archival research including material released by the Gramsci and Schucht family.

Reviews

A compelling narrative of Gramscis life and times with a lucid exposition of his intellectual achievements ... It is beautifully and sensitively written, sober in tone, wise in judgment and full of striking aperus. * Perspectives *
Gramsci is probably the most brilliant of all Marxs intellectual followers. He was also a real historical actor, secret leader of the Italian Communist Party under Fascism. Pearmains biography places the first fact in the context of the second: he has written a book that, just as he aimed to do, re-places Gramsci from merely academic treatments back into politics and history. This biography enables one to understand how this extraordinary organic intellectual can have so much to say that speaks to us still today. His difficult existence in ill-health, as beleaguered political prisoner, and in a world that gradually seemed to forget all that he holds dear casts real light on how his thought became increasingly revisionist during the course of his (too-short) life, and on how the Gramscian net of concepts such as subaltern and hegemony is far more relevant to our times than most more-dogmatically Marxian theory. Pearmains account is simultaneously humble and authoritative, grounded sharply in Gramscis time and yet dripping with relevances to our own. It is faithful and therefore poignant. It deserves to be read. * Professor Rupert Read, University of East Anglia. *

Author Bio

Andrew Pearmain has a PhD in Historyvfrom the University of East Anglia, UK. Andrew has previously published several articles and a book on Gramsci. Andrew was a member of the Labour Party, serving as a Norwich City Councillor for four years from 1999-2003, and is now associated with the Green Party though the think-tank Greenhouse. Now semi-retired, Andrew is a contributing editor to the art/fashion magazine Arena Homme Plus.