The writer was impressed with the need of a short history of Italy while giving a series of lantern lectures on Italian history to London school children in 1902. The present volume, which the author modestly calls a “summary” is the result “of a deep and growing love for the subject, of many wanderings in the bypaths of Italy, and of an inherited affection for her present population.” (Preface) She disclaims having made any original research, studied the archives, or made new discoveries. “But I have endeavoured, by using the work already done on each period by Italian, British, French, and German scholars, and by illuminating it with the sayings of contemporary writers, to present a narrative as near the truth as it was possible for me to make it.” (Preface) Partial contents: Italy in the century preceding the barbarian invasions (284–395); The barbarian invasions (395–476); The beginnings of the middle ages (800–1002); The rise of the cities, and their conflict with Frederick Barbarossa (1100–1183); Rome and the papacy during the fourteenth century (1305–1389); Italy in the sixteenth century; Napoleon’s first conquest of Italy (1792–1799); The years of revolution (1846–1849); The completion of Italian unity (1860–1870); Epilogue; Bibliography; Index. There are twenty-four illustrations and six maps.
“Mrs Trevelyan has wrestled with the difficulties of her subject with marked success. She has a thorough grasp of essentials and a due sense of proportion which have enabled her to produce an admirably balanced, well-arranged book, while she writes in a way that is sure to make it widely read.” L. C.-M.
+ Ath p237 Ag 20 ’20 1050w + Booklist 17:67 N ’20
“The chapters are well arranged and in all but the spirit of the presentation of the material, satisfactory.”
+ − Cath World 112:687 F ’21 130w
“As is the case with all English histories of Italy, the least satisfactory part of the book is the ‘Epilogue,’ which treats of the fifty years since 1870.” W. M.
+ − Eng Hist R 35:628 O ’20 370w Ind 104:67 O 9 ’20 40w
“The author failed to grasp, or rather utilize, the proper hypothesis—to write the story of the communities as influenced by individuals and extract from that story not what was merely entertaining, but what permanently influenced the future.” Walter Littlefield
+ − N Y Times p22 Ag 22 ’20 1850w