The Dark Heart of Italy

Description:

An essential guide to the strange, sometimes sinister culture of contemporary Italy.In 1999 Tobias Jones travelled to Italy, expecting to discover the pastoral bliss described by centuries of foreign visitors and famous writers. Instead, he discovered a very different country, besieged by unfathomable terrorism and deep-seated paranoia, where crime is scarcely ever met with punishment.Now, in this fascinating travelogue, Jones explores not just Italy's familiar delights (art, climate, cuisine), but the livelier and stranger sides of the bel paese: language, football, Catholicism, cinema, television and terrorism. Why, he wonders, do bombs still explode every time politics start getting serious? Why does everyone urge him to go home as soon as possible, saying that Italy is a 'brothel'? And why do people warn him that 'Clean Hands' only disguise 'Dirty Feet'?

subjects: Politics and government,  Social life and customs,  Description and travel,  Political corruption,  Travel,  Homes and haunts,  Nonfiction,  Social conditions,  History,  Italy, description and travel,  Italy, social conditions,  Italy, social life and customs,  Italy, politics and government,  Italy, history,  Political science,  General,  Homes,  Manners and customs,  Skandal,  Kriminalität

People: Silvio Berlusconi (1936-2023),  Tobias Jones

Places: Italy

Times: 1945-,  1994-,  20th century