Garibaldi and the Making of Italy: June - November, 1860

Garibaldi #3

by George Macaulay Trevelyan

Leaving his place of exile, Garibaldi returned to Latin America--until called back to Italy in 1854 at the request of Cavour. In triumph, he sailed to Sicily from Genoa with one thousand men to proclaim himself dictator.

Genres: History, Italian Literature, Italy, European History

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1911

About the author

George Macaulay Trevelyan, OM, CBE, FRS, FBA, was an English historian. Trevelyan was the third son of Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, and great-nephew of Thomas Babington Macaulay, whose staunch liberal Whig principles he espoused in accessible works of literate narrative avoiding a consciously dispassionate analysis, that became old-fashioned during his long and productive career. Contemporary E. H. Carr considered Trevelyan to be one of the last historians of the Whig tradition.

Many of his writings promoted the Whig Party, an important aspect of British politics from the 1600s to the mid-1800s, and of its successor, the Liberal Party. Whigs and Liberals believed the common people had a more positive effect on history than did royalty and that democratic government would bring about steady social progress.

Trevelyan's history is engaged and partisan. Of his Garibaldi trilogy, "reeking with bias", he remarked in his essay "Bias in History", "Without bias, I should never have written them at all. For I was moved to write them by a poetical sympathy with the passions of the Italian patriots of the period, which I retrospectively shared."

Reviews

[Czarny Pies · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Garibaldi and the Making of Italy" is the third volume of George Macaulay Trevelyan's biography of Garibaldi. It maintains the very high standard of the first two volumes, so I urge everyone to forge ahead. A real treat awaits.

The level of scholarship is very high as might be expected of the work of any Oxford professor. Trevelyan worked very hard on this project. He clearly has a good grasp of the archival sources available in English, French and Italian. While he does cite secondary works in German he does not seem to have consulted any primary sources in that language. Nonetheless, it can safely be said that Trevelyan's very thorough and it is unlikely that his work will ever be superseded.

Trevelyan does an admirable job of making simple the complex political, social and cultural mosaic of the Italian peninsula as it existed in Garibaldi's era. Similarly, he draws a very clear picture of the personalities and strategies of the major players involved notably Garibaldi, Mazzini, Cavour, Victor Emmanuel II, Napoleon III, Ferdinand II and Francis II.

The thing that pleases the most about the trilogy is that Trevelyan is able to the tell the story in the way that Giuseppe Verdi, Elisabeth Barrett Browning, Alfred Tennyson, William Wordsworth and his many supporters amongst the poets, opera composers, and other artists of his era would have wanted it told. If you liked the literature of this era in anyway, you will love this wonderful biography of a great man.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last installment in Trevelyan's three-volume study of Garibaldi's role in the Italian Risorgimento. The book does a splendid job with the military side of the history, but does not handle the political complexities of the formation of the Italian state as deftly as the subject requires.

Overall, this series is a great introduction to Garibaldi and the Risorgimento. The subject matter is absolutely fascinating, although I am still on the lookout for better and more up-to-date histories of the era.

[Sotiris Makrygiannis · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mind-opening and insightful, this book delves into the fascinating history of the creation of modern Italy, shedding light on the long-standing tensions between the native Italians and Greek colonists. These tensions can be traced back to the time of Cicero and his renowned speech 'In Verrem.'

The Greeks have a storied history of residing in Italy, dating back many centuries, even during the tumultuous period when Attila the Hun was making his mark. This historical account is a crucial part of our education, as it unveils the intellectual and military leadership that played a pivotal role in shaping modern Europe and its nations.

Leaders like Cicero, alongside figures such as Napoleon and Rigas Feraios, belong to a unique category of visionaries who have left an indelible mark on the continent's development. Their stories are essential narratives that should be studied and appreciated by all."

free audio book: https://librivox.org/garibaldi-and-th...

[T.P. Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptionally well written, marvelously paced history, and finishes the story begun in the first of the three volume biography of Garibaldi. That said, and notwithstanding meticulous research, author has an attitude that come through in the writing - profoundly anti-Catholic, to the point of bigotry, and patronizing regarding the Italians, in general. Nary a bad word about The Dictator in any of the three volumes. But the narrative is carried along so well, it overcomes these deficiencies, but deprives book of a fifth star.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not an expert in Risorgimento history and so cannot say if this book is good or not, but it helped greatly as an introduction even if modern historians would consider this work dated or if interpretations have changed. The winners and losers of the Risorgimento have very different ideas about what happened just like the winners and losers of the American Civil War or any revolution or war for that matter.

[Ankshita · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very stirring narration of one of the most heroic and inspiring stories in the annals of History. The audacity of faith that dares, dares and always dares is an eternal feature of every great endeavour of mankind, and Garibaldi incarnated this passion which in rare epochs dazzles the world and clears all obscurities by the sheer power of pure, selfless devotion to a cause.
Trevelyan recreates this saga with elan, keen insight and a comprehensive presentation that makes this entire trilogy very engrossing and accessible.
It is hard not to feel some goosebumps when Garibaldi orders an insane forward charge in the face of superior enemy fire by uttering the immortal words: “Here we make Italy or we die.”
This is the stuff epics that transcend nations and eras are made of.

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nobody does prose like Trevelyan.

[Rhonda Soukup · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why I keep picking up books with short stories. I like this author but 100 pages is not enough to make things realistic. This had 3 short stories in it.