Politics in a Museum: Governing Post-War Florence

(Hardback)

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How the city of Florence, one of the great treasure houses of western civilization, has been reduced to a crowded Renaissance Disneyland for tourists. How and why has the city of Florence, one of the great treasure houses of western civilization, been reduced to little more than a Renaissance Disneyland for tourists Florence, once a center of national intellectual creativity, has become a city with two separate lives. Its historic center caters to and profits from tourists, while the periphery houses a population that endures overcrowding, decaying infrastructure, and an exorbitant cost of living. In Politics in a Museum, James Miller investigates Florence's losing struggle with modern times. He traces the city's story from its bloody liberation in 1944 through a reconstruction led by Communist and Catholic "saints," the flood of 1966, the booms and busts of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. In the process, Miller provides an analysis of the defects of Italy's national political system, as well as a meticulous reconstruction of the men and events that have placed Florence alongside Venice in the unenviable status of "museum city."

Reviews

Through a judicious and exhaustive reading of national and local archives, party and private papers, the press, and interviews, Miller writes a splendid history of contemporary Florence and a model study for urban historians....Fine illustrations and an extensive bibliography make this title recommended for public, college, and university libraries.-Choice
"Through a judicious and exhaustive reading of national and local archives, party and private papers, the press, and interviews, Miller writes a splendid history of contemporary Florence and a model study for urban historians....Fine illustrations and an extensive bibliography make this title recommended for public, college, and university libraries."-Choice

Author Bio

JAMES EDWARD MILLER is a scholar with the European Studies Program of the Foreign Service Institute.