Review: A Brief History of Italy

A Brief History of Italy by Jeremy Black
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's not an easy task to pack the rich and multi-sided history of Italy into one relatively short book. So, the credit should be given to the author. From Etruscan civilization, through Ancient Roman times and Medieval age to Spanish / Austrian / French period until unification, Mussolini and modern times - it is rather well done.

The scrupulous details of various wars, battles, kings and regents was at times too much for such a concise book. More interesting was description of ordinary people's life in the Medieval Italy (which mostly was quite miserable apart from nobles and priests) as well as discussion about the roots of and the signs of regional inequality (between the North and the South). The author's relaxed, personal attitude to Italy (especially to what has happened in the past 30-50 years) is beneficial for the book.

Historical books could always benefit from some maps or illustrations. There was none here.

All in all, a good quick overview of the history of the country. Being a "Brief History", it is inevitably full of compromises as of what is covered there and to what extent.