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The Dark Heart of Italy

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 · rating details · 412 ratings · 46 reviews

In 1999 Tobias Jones immigrated to Italy, expecting to discover the pastoral bliss described by centuries of foreign visitors. Instead, he found a very different country: one besieged by unfathomable terrorism and deep-seated paranoia. The Dark Heart of Italy is Jones's account of his four-year voyage across the Italian peninsula.

Jones writes not just about Italy's art, cl...more

Paperback, 336 pages

Published June 13th 2005 by North Point Press (first published January 1st 2003)

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Oct 22, 2010 Lorenzo rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: aaa-my-library, british, 2010-readings

What's the problem with the Italian football?

Why decent and smart British authors like, say, Nick Hornby, Tim Parks and John Foot were (are?) so fascinated by that unimportant part of our culture?

Where is the romanticism in contemporary Italian football, I wonder?
Where is the fair-play, the chivalry, the grit?

For Tobias Jones has been deceived too.
Let's put ourselves in his football shoes for a few lines.

I am a British journalist.
I moved to Italy, because my girlfriend is Italian.
I live in Par...more

6 likes · like · see review

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Lorenzo Hi Sara,

I'm a subscriber of The Economist since I moved to the UK and really like what they write about Italy (John Hooper is a good correspondent). I...more
updated Mar 03, 2013 12:53pm

Sara Yes, I think we must have two different editions!
Hey, do try Camilleri in English! I think his translator(s) do an excellent job, at least it reads v...more
Mar 03, 2013 02:23pm

Apr 30, 2008 Wayne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Easy-reading overview of contemporary Italian politics with a bit of culture thrown in. It's more journalistic than literary, and parses politics more than a casual reader might hope for, but Jones leaves some wonderful passages scattered throughout to keep one going. And the book's now newly relevant with the recent (re)election of Berlusconi -- if your first and final response to news accounts of Italian politics is "what the hell?", this offers as good a place as any to start pulling apart th...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book paints a portrait of the Italian character. It attempts to answer the question why are they the way they are? When I say "attempt" I don't mean to be derogatory. It's a tough job defining Italy, Jones does a pretty good job.

Pulling together examples of Italy's checkered past and its relationship with the Catholic church, he delves into the psyche of a country that drives headlong into the modern era while clinging to a past other industrial cultures have long since left behind.

The peop...more

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Apr 16, 2009 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars

A man moves from his native land (England) to Italy and slowly discovers what it is to be Italian. What he describes is a place where a polarized society enlessly disputes the truth; a legal system unable to exact justice; an impossibly bureaucratic government run by an elected oligarchy; and football. Society manages to continue like a dynamical system run long which has forgotten its initial state. That something so large as Italian society can survive on aesthetics and habit instead of Anlgo-...more

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Jul 13, 2009 Marnie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Where the words "anarchist" and "fascist" seem as commonplace in Italy as "republican" and "democrat" in the US, this book redirects the outsider away from the vineyards and Roman ruins and onto the incredibly corrupt government. Focusing on the time period from after WW2 through to late 90's, Jones describes a place where even the history books admit there is too much rewriting for anything to be certain, and where if you are not a conspiracy theorist, you are abnormal.

"The irony is that Italy,...more

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May 08, 2012 Peter rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book reports the experiences of life in Italy of the author who has spent some time in Parma teaching university students. The book contains a number of fascinating insights, although I would recommend visiting Italy before reading it. I have found visits to Florence and Siena in particular to be incredibly inspiring and uplifting, and found the content of the book quite unnerving in places. One snippet I found quite surprising is that the modal group of retail unit categories in Parma cons...more

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Jul 21, 2008 Karlan rated it 5 of 5 stars

In a readable style, Jones discusses Italy and Italians. He even manages to make the political situation clearer. Anyone would enjoy this book who is the least bit interested in Italy.

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Dec 02, 2010 Carolyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book coinciding with my first trip to Italia (praise be this country!!). I found it a very interesting and informative read as it delved into intricacies of the Italian society and culture that the everyday traveler would just not know about. Italy's incredibly snail-paced bureaucracy, the rampant corruption, and an understanding of the Italian's love of their country vs. their government were particularly fascinating and intriguing. Overall, a great read - I'd minus a half-star beca...more

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May 11, 2013 Helen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: from-university-library, non-fiction

This book is 10 years old now, so a lot of water has gone under the bridge since it was written. Still relevant, and still quite alarming - whoever is in power (this book is mainly about Berlusconi and his influence on Italy and Italian life) the dangers of having one person with so much influence in so many different spheres are clear. Tobias Jones' love of the country (in spite of everything) is clear. Despite its beauty and all the many attractions of Italy I don't think I'd be tempted to emi...more

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Jun 07, 2012 Al Bità rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Being one of the first generation Italian (or more precisely, Sicilian!) Australians, Italy has always intrigued me as the place of origin of both my parents who came over between the wars. I grew up more with a Sicilian bias, but soon discovered that Italy with its stunningly beautiful landscapes, its language, cuisine, culture, art, architecture and music have a formidable reputation is the culture of the West. There is much to be proud about.

But for the modern Italian, there is also the often...more Being one of the first generation Italian (or more precisely, Sicilian!) Australians, Italy has always intrigued me as the place of origin of both my parents who came over between the wars. I grew up more with a Sicilian bias, but soon discovered that Italy with its stunningly beautiful landscapes, its language, cuisine, culture, art, architecture and music have a formidable reputation is the culture of the West. There is much to be proud about.

But for the modern Italian, there is also the often murky understanding of what the country is politically, and the often confounding and perplexing nature of living life within this scenario.

As a nation, Italy has a comparatively young identity stemming from its unification in the 19th-century, but that unification is perhaps illusory — there remains the divide between North and South, and since the two world wars, a further divide between Fascists and Communists. In the meantime there is the prevailing presence of of the ages old Roman Catholic Church and the peculiarly ritualistic and sometimes superstitious versions of Christianity that is Italian to the core, regardless of any other influence; plus the pervasive presence of the various Mafia organisations. In Italy, and perhaps in Italy alone, all these forces have somehow coalesced into a kind of quagmire of competing and conflicting demands, aided and abetted by an astonishingly complex and stifling bureaucracy. All of these forces have tentacles within each of the others, all feeding off the same political energies, all achieving little if anything, but keeping itself somehow alive despite (or because because of) this. Even changing government has usually led merely to further stalemates: it is as if it is all a game of musical chairs where none of the chairs are ever removed — and all you are left with is yet another combination of ineffectual stasis. How people survive within such impasses is perhaps the particular genius of the Italian people, but whether this is yet sustainable in the future is problematic.

In 1999 Tobias Jones visited Italy for a four-year stay, and while his love affair with the country and its people remains bright and shiny, his examination of this 'other' side ends up being his main concern, and particularly so in relation to the rise and rise of the mind-boggling Silvio Berlusconi as the dominant force in Italian politics. His book highlights significant events, including terrorist attacks, particularly from an historical perspective, and then traces their provenance to the present. The result is not pretty, but the information provided is immensely fascinating, and is presented in an easy to read fashion. Jones effortlessly explains extremely complex machinations, convoluted rationalisation, enigmatic occurrences, etc. which strangely are illuminating, but ultimately remain implacably complex, convoluted and enigmatic; and thus indirectly establishes the fine mess Italy is in, including its inability to resolve its own issues. It is the fact that someone like Berlusconi seems to be able to manipulate all of this confusion for his own and his Party's benefit is perhaps the more truly frightening bit. And yet, perhaps because of the way Italians in their private lives deal with all this, there is still their resilience, and their refusal to let mere politics intervene significantly in the more important aspects of living, that provides hope that this Italian spirit will not die or even fade away.(less)

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May 07, 2012 Luca rated it 2 of 5 stars

Sometimes funny, sometimes a bit superficial, always written with a clear and easy-to-read style, I believe this book does not keep the expectations with its title: it is a book about the author's few years in Parma, in which he seems to have lived in a quiet and peaceful bubble, where walks in the hills and outdoor trips in wine cellars are everyday events. Instead of trying to dig, Jones prefers to give a partial, blurred image of Italy as he sees it from his eyes. While some of Italy's "miste...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Kathleen Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars

Stendhal wrote that the feeling one gets from living in Italy is 'akin to that of being in love'. I know what he means, and so does Tobias Jones (no relation!). I read this book to try to understand otherwise incomprehensible Italian politics - the Berlusconi phenomenon in particular - and I wasn't disappointed. After a couple of weeks of reading and re-reading, I can't get my hair to lie down. The book didn't tell me anything I didn't suspect (after 12 years of coming and going) but it still sh...more Stendhal wrote that the feeling one gets from living in Italy is 'akin to that of being in love'. I know what he means, and so does Tobias Jones (no relation!). I read this book to try to understand otherwise incomprehensible Italian politics - the Berlusconi phenomenon in particular - and I wasn't disappointed. After a couple of weeks of reading and re-reading, I can't get my hair to lie down. The book didn't tell me anything I didn't suspect (after 12 years of coming and going) but it still shocked me by the extent of the revelations.

Tobias moved to Italy because he had an Italian girlfriend, fell in love with the place and didn't want to leave. His work as a journalist, exposing the dark side of Italian political affairs, took him into areas of Italian life few dare to venture. He researched the terrorist attacks of the 'Anni di Piombi' (the years of lead, 1970s and 80s) - bombs, shootings, mass terror, the deaths of magistrates, judges and politicians, the 'suicides' of suspects and even the abduction and assassination of an Italian prime minister (Aldo Moro in 1978). The repercussions of these events and the failure of the Italian systems of politics and justice to deal with them, still shape Italian politics today. Watch the film 'Il Divo' - Sorrentino's beautifully researched, corruscating account of what happened.

Tobias Jones's story of the 1990s fiasco of the 'Clean Hands' campaign that led to the election of Silvio Berlusconi makes interesting reading. The UK expenses scandal, the fact that our prime minister was friends with a Murdoch employee, cash for peerages, widespread phone hacking, all seem like nursery school squabbles in comparison to the daily dealings of the Italian state. And when he gets to the world of football and finance (yes they're all connected here), you finally realise what your Italian friends are up against and why most of them are so cynical about all aspects of public life.

Some of you may remember an Italian banker, linked to the Vatican, who was found hanged under a London bridge. Roberto Calvi was head of the Ambrosio bank in Milan and in partnership with a man called Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, head of the Vatican Bank, in a scheme to launder huge amounts of money into off-shore accounts, assisted by a Sicilian tax expert called Sindona. All, except Marcinkus, died mysteriously once investigations got under way. Calvi died in London in a faked suicide. Calvi's secretary died - apparently another suicide. Sindora was arrested, but given a poisoned coffee in prison as he awaited questioning. The two men assigned to investigate the fraud were both murdered and Pope John Paul was shot in an attempted assassination. Although the US federal dept had large amounts of evidence connecting him with international fraud, Marcinkus was never charged with anything.

Tobias Jones sums up what was a tortuous investigation where the name of a man called Gelli kept recurring and the trail led to a Masonic lodge of which Gelli was head - 'P2' - whose membership included 52 senior caribiniere, 50 army officers, 37 high ranking tax police, 38 MPs (including Berlusconi), 14 judges, 10 bank presidents and senior media professionals. An extreme right-wing document, the 'Plan for the Re-Birth of Democracy' was found in Gelli's secretary's briefcase at the airport. A Parliamentary enquiry wrote that P2 had 'ongoing links with subversive groups and organisations instigating and countenancing their criminal purposes' - including terrorism. If Dan Brown had written this as a novel, we wouldn't believe it.

'Behind the surface of Italian democracy,' Tobias Jones writes,'lies a secret history, made up of hidden associations, contacts and even conspiracies, some farcical, others more serious'. There is a 'white mafia of financial scams, money-laundering and international investment rackets'. No wonder Italy is in the financial shit.

But even with all this knowledge, Tobias Jones is still in love with Italy - with its people, food, wine, landscape and way of life. Now that I'm living here I know exactly how he feels. I love it too. There is a dark side, but there is also another - the warm friendship and family life, the aesthetics of food and architecture, that keeps Italians sane and enables them to live with their murky political backdrop.

Originally published by Faber and Faber Tobias Jones has recently up-dated this book with a new chapter on recent events and released it as an e-book. One person (apparently Italian) on Amazon.com has written two(!) one star reviews which seem to be motivated by the kind of Italian politics TJ is describing. The original publication had consistently four and five star reviews - 52 of them - and it earned every one. I particularly loved the chapter that asked why the nation that once created the greatest art in the world now has the worst television!(less)

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Mar 16, 2012 Solor rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Naturally, I am very fascinated with what foreign authors have to say on Italy and the Italians. I found their unbiased views quite objective and deliciously constructed. But I feel that Mr. Jones here goes down too harsh by showing an exaggerate, almost hysterical contempt towards (indeed) scandalous events and puerile behaviour. This projects a very dark, twisted imagine of the country; almost a bewildering reality of modern Europe.
Perfection doesn't reside in our world - In spite of posing as...more

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May 11, 2013 Kyrea rated it 3 of 5 stars

a good all around book for getting under the skin of Italy today. A bit heavy on political history at times but I love the chapters on football culture and miracles & mysteries the most. it is a critical book but I felt that the author developped a passion for the place even though he despaired at the multi-facetted corruption,regional attitudes, and strange love affair for leaders on trial who at the same time get big govt. and corporate posts repeatedly (does that sound familiar, Kenyans?)...more

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Dec 19, 2012 Bryan Murphy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the most illuminating book on contemporary Italy that I have read. What shines through is Jones's amazement that such a potentially wonderful place should have got bogged down in a mire from which it seems unable to pull itself. The book is nearly ten years old - time for a new edition, perhaps after February's elections, when the electors may finally bury the Berlusconi - Bossi hybrid monster under a landslide of votes for change. Or not.

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Jun 26, 2010 Santo rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: politics-economics

Got this book during a weekend stay in Rome. I enjoyed immensely the chapters on football and religion in Italy. Those paticular issues always remind me of this country.

On the parts on politics, I could't help but draw comparisons to Indonesia's political scene, including the similarities between Berlusconi and Bakrie.

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Mar 30, 2010 Kendra rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you love Italy with a passion as I do, you will either love or hate this book. I read it becasue I like to explore all facets of the country - the positives, negatives, it's history...but be prepared to have a bit of the "dreamy side" of Italy tarnished...it hits some realities pretty hard.

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Apr 11, 2013 Robert B. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Very good book showing how the world is lined-up on the basis of Italy. Reader can learn as well about some Italian habits and tries to understand them. This book is sometimes funny and sometimes serious and I recommend it for those who are specially interested in Italy

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Mar 21, 2013 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars

A good insight into the modern life and recent history of Italy. It does have a tendency to get sluggish and repetetive, and feels as it it lacks a perspective of the word outside Italy and the United Kingdom, the author's homeland.

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Oct 09, 2012 Bcoghill Coghill rated it 3 of 5 stars

Librarian Nancy Pearl told me that if I am not enjoying a book by page 50 I can lay it aside. I shall do that.
It is a fine book, but I just don't care. The fault, in this case, lay with the reader and not with the author.

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Feb 07, 2009 Bob Nease added it

Grumpy, sour, whiny and frequently boring critique of Italian soccer, television, politics, etc. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect his Italian GF dumped him. Have a prune cornetto, and move on, Tobias!

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Apr 24, 2011 Janet rated it 3 of 5 stars

An enjoyable memoir of a British man's life in Italy.This is in many ways the opposite of the Frances Mayes' books,Tobias Jones writes about Italian politics, economics, urban crime.

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Jul 10, 2011 Robert rated it 3 of 5 stars

good expose about burlosconi and his control of italy. could have been better written and it meandered at times, but it is fun to read. bunga, bunga anyone?

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Apr 14, 2011 Jim Rimmer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: cultural-history, european-history, history, non-fiction

I enjoyed many elements of this book though it is now a little dated considering Silvio's mischief over more recent years. From an antipodean perspective I must say that I think it conveys as much about the English condition as it does about the Italian.

Also, clear evidence of negative an impact editors and designers can have on a book. The clunky chapter transitions were very Yr 9 and hulking swathes of italics for no known reason.

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Oct 06, 2010 Arianne rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you intend to spend any time in Italy, this is a must read. Non-fiction, but I couldn't put it down.

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Oct 09, 2009 Jamie Joyce is currently reading it

Started this on our trip to Northern Italy. Cannot put it down. Great compliment to our Giro d'Italia.

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Sep 23, 2009 Katy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-book

Very well written and informative. I would love to have a new edition with an updated afterword to include events such as Benedict's installation and Silvio's fall and re-election. Totally recommended.

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Apr 27, 2010 Bap rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: italy

Very uneven but is the only book I could find concerning modern Italy. Berlusconi is crazy.

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Feb 24, 2009 Shirley rated it 4 of 5 stars

completely changed the way i thought of italy (before my trip there)...

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Aug 02, 2011 Filip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very good antidote against all the 'One Year in Italy' schmaltz.

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