Garibaldi - Citizen of the World: A Biography (Hardcover)

Dense, encyclopedic biography of world-renowned intrepid proponent for Italian social justice.A "strong and independent" boy born into a coastal trading family on July 4, 1807, in Nice, Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807 - 1882) rejected his parents' efforts to steer him toward the more distinguished career paths of a doctor or attorney and quickly learned the ranks of his father's maritime livelihood (and officially set sail as an apprentice seaman) in his teens. Soon, though, his demanding work at sea was replaced with a heady interest in political activism, most notably with the Italian unification movement "Young Italy," which was spearheaded by liberal reformist Giuseppe Mazzini, who would emerge as Garibaldi's mentor. He abandoned a stint in the Sardinian navy in favor of a poorly organized insurrection and ended up in Brazil in 1835. This proved to be just the beginning of many causes the patriotic libertarian would become embroiled in; freeing people from the binds of tyranny and oppression became his life's work. After engaging in land- and water-based warfare against the Brazilians, Garibaldi met his first wife, Anita, who bore him a son, Domenico, who also joined him on his missions. Adopting guerrilla warfare tactics both on land and at sea, he became a leader and hero in his continued support of exiles and emigrants in Montevideo, Uruguay, and in Italy, where he fought against the Austrians to defend the Roman Republic. After being exiled, he spent time in Tangiers, the United States and England, and moved on to fight in a resistance against a new French Republic. A serious injury prevented him from becoming a major general in the American Civil War's Union Army, but a burgeoning writing career produced four novels and his memoirs. Scirocco frequently refers to Garibaldi's autobiographical "memoirs" for direction within the narrative, but he depicts many events with a hazy, cautious speculation since dates and activities remain unclear even in Garibaldi's own text. Still, the author does a serviceable job of commingling relevant historical factoids with the extraordinary life of this unwavering "quintessential hero."A stiff, workmanlike approach to the life of a noble figure. (Kirkus Reviews)

What adventure novelist could have invented the life of Giuseppe Garibaldi? The revolutionary, soldier, politician, and greatest figure in the fight for Italian unification, Garibaldi (1807-1882) brought off almost as many dramatic exploits in the Americas as he did in Europe, becoming an international freedom fighter, earning the title of the "hero of two worlds," and making himself perhaps the most famous and beloved man of his century. Alfonso Scirocco's "Garibaldi" is the most up-to-date, authoritative, comprehensive, and convincing biography of Garibaldi yet written. In vivid narrative style and unprecedented detail, and drawing on many new sources that shed fresh light on important events, Scirocco tells the full story of Garibaldi's fascinating public and private life, separating its myth-like reality from the outright myths that have surrounded Garibaldi since his own day.

Scirocco tells how Garibaldi devoted his energies to the liberation of Italians and other oppressed peoples. Sentenced to death for his role in an abortive Genoese insurrection in 1834, Garibaldi fled to South America, where he joined two successive fights for independence--Rio Grande do Sul's against Brazil and Uruguay's against Argentina. He returned to Italy in 1848 to again fight for Italian independence, leading seven more campaigns, including the spectacular capture of Sicily. During the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln even offered to make him a general in the Union army.

Presenting Garibaldi as a complex and even contradictory figure, Scirocco shows us the pacifist who spent much of his life fighting; the nationalist who advocated European unification; the republican who served a king; and the man who, although compared by contemporaries to Aeneas and Odysseus, refused honors and wealth and spent his last years as a farmer.

General

Imprint:	Princeton University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	September 2007
First published:	September 2007
Authors:	Alfonso Scirocco
Translators:	Allan Cameron
Dimensions:	235 x 152 x 34mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover - Trade binding
Pages:	456
ISBN-13:	978-0-691-11540-5
Categories:	Books > Earth & environment > Geography > General Promotions
LSN:	0-691-11540-0
Barcode:	9780691115405

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