Mazzini: A Life for the Religion of Politics

(Hardback)

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This full-length biography of 19th-century Italian patriot and revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini, arguably the key figure in Italian unification, explores the relationship between the person and the ideas. Sarti presents a Mazzini who anticipated many issues of our times, including the usefulness and limitations of national states in the international community, the need to integrate the masses in society, and to balance individual freedom with social duties and obligations. But, as Sarti makes clear, Mazzini defies easy classification because of his determined efforts to reconcile opposites and strike a balance between extremes. In pursuing his goals, Mazzini developed an extremism of his own characterized by moral intransigence and faith in the superiority of spirit over matter. Religion was at the core of his creed, but it was a highly individual religion that conformed to no established theology or norms. Mazzini lived his politics like no other figure of his generation; his power was based largely on the power of example. Although a tireless organizer, his talents were essentially those of the publicist. The appeal to conscience, the cult of martyrs, and the cultivation of an image of victim were part of his highly personal recipe for power. Sarti presents a Mazzini with virtues and defects, strengths and weaknesses, prophetic insights and hallucinations. This study may be of interest to scholars and researchers of nationalism and modern Italian history.

Reviews

Based largely on the national edition of Mazzini's letters...Sarti presents a skillfully nuanced and fascinating portrait of that 'man for all seasons, ' revealing myriad details that have escaped other biographers of this complex figure, who still informs Europeanists, feminists, and decolonization movements in the 20th century.... Sarti's reading of Mazzini's contacts with workers and artisans, his belief in self-help and the power of education, and his support for free schools for workers is interesting. Competitive relationships with rival revolutionaries like Buonarroti, the stormy associations with his followers and Garibaldi, and his liaisons with Giuditta Sidoli and Susan Tancioni are expertly interwoven with lucid analysis of Mazzinian thought and action. This is a splendid biography, adorned with haunting portrait photos and a thorough bibliographical essay. Recommended for all libraries.-Choice
In this well-written, balanced and lively biography, Roland Sarti shows himself sympathetic towards Mazzini....Despite disagreeing with many of Sarti's conclusions, I can only recommend this book. For the expert there is plenty of fascinating detail and novel insight, yet undergraduates or even general readers with little knowledge of the Risorgimento will thoroughly enjoy it.-Journal of Modern Italian Studies
More clearly than any previous biographer, Sarti confronts the contradictions that lay at the heart of the man and his ideas, which ultimately explain why Mazzini's image remained more powerful in death than in life and left so many different legacies.-American Historical Review
"In this well-written, balanced and lively biography, Roland Sarti shows himself sympathetic towards Mazzini....Despite disagreeing with many of Sarti's conclusions, I can only recommend this book. For the expert there is plenty of fascinating detail and novel insight, yet undergraduates or even general readers with little knowledge of the Risorgimento will thoroughly enjoy it."-Journal of Modern Italian Studies
"More clearly than any previous biographer, Sarti confronts the contradictions that lay at the heart of the man and his ideas, which ultimately explain why Mazzini's image remained more powerful in death than in life and left so many different legacies."-American Historical Review
"Based largely on the national edition of Mazzini's letters...Sarti presents a skillfully nuanced and fascinating portrait of that 'man for all seasons, ' revealing myriad details that have escaped other biographers of this complex figure, who still informs Europeanists, feminists, and decolonization movements in the 20th century.... Sarti's reading of Mazzini's contacts with workers and artisans, his belief in self-help and the power of education, and his support for free schools for workers is interesting. Competitive relationships with rival revolutionaries like Buonarroti, the stormy associations with his followers and Garibaldi, and his liaisons with Giuditta Sidoli and Susan Tancioni are expertly interwoven with lucid analysis of Mazzinian thought and action. This is a splendid biography, adorned with haunting portrait photos and a thorough bibliographical essay. Recommended for all libraries."-Choice

Author Bio

ROLAND SARTI is Professor of History and former department chair at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is the author of numerous works, including Fascism and the Industrial Leadership in Italy, 1919-1940, The Ax Within: Italian Fascism in Action, and Long Live the Strong: A History of Rural Society in the Apennine Mountains.