Garibaldi: Hero of Italian Unification: Hero of Italian Unification

by Ross King (Foreword), Christopher Hibbert

Giuseppe Garibaldi was praised for his military genius, his courage, and his charisma. Known as the "Hero of Two Worlds," Garibaldi's military prowess extended to the Americas, where he played a major role in the Brazilian struggle for independence. During his fight for Italian unification Garibaldi personally led an army of local untrained rebels to victory in Palermo, Naples, and Sicily. His forces suffered from lack of equipment, food, and money, and yet Garabaldi commanded their fierce loyalty. Christopher Hibbert reveals how this iconic figure earned the adulation of not only his fellow Italians, but people across the globe.

Genres: History, Biography, Italy, Nonfiction, European History, Biography Memoir, Italian Literature

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Ross King (born July 16, 1962) is a Canadian novelist and non-fiction writer. He began his career by writing two works of historical fiction in the 1990s, later turning to non-fiction, and has since written several critically acclaimed and best-selling historical works.

King was born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada and was raised in the nearby village of North Portal. He received his undergraduate university education at the University of Regina, where in 1984 he completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in English Literature. Continuing his studies at the University of Regina, he received a Master of Arts degree in 1986 upon completing a thesis on the poet T.S. Eliot. Later he achieved a Ph.D. from York University in Toronto (1992), where he specialized eighteenth-century English literature.

King moved to England to take up a position as a post-doctoral research fellow at University College, London. It was at this time that he began writing his first novel.

For Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, King was nominated in 2003 for a National Book Critics Circle Award. Brunelleschi’s Dome was on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, the Boston Globe and the San Francisco Chronicle, and was the recipient of several awards including the 2000 Book Sense Nonfiction Book of the Year.

He lectures frequently in both Europe and North America, and has given guided tours of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence and of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

King currently lives in Woodstock, England with his wife Melanie

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christopher Hibbert's Garibaldi and His Enemies is an adequate account of Italy's Risorgimento, with heavy focus on Giuseppe Garibaldi's decades-long effort to create an Italy united and free from foreign control. Hibbert's skills as a narrative historian are put to the test: Italian unification was a messy process involving numerous wars, factions and foreign powers angling for power and influence, all spread out over decades. Whenever Hibbert focuses on Garibaldi he scores, capturing something of his unique personality and unflagging idealism. The rest of this volume may be rough-sledding for novices.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much stronger on the biographical side than the historical. The book is alive when writing directly about Garibaldi but fizzles at other times, particularly, at least for me, during the military history

[Miles Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best histories of Garibaldi and the Thousand available in English. Hibbert writes well and I think his interpretation of events is measured but also sympathetic. He's more sympathetic ti Victor Emmanuel II than Denis Mack Smith was, more sympathetic to Garibaldi to than Thayer was, and less committed to Whig and Liberal ideology than Trevelyan was. The sections on military battles don't quite sparkle as much as the political parts of the book, but on the whole its one of the better books I've read on Garibaldi and the Risorgimento.

[Jack Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

He's kicked Gari

[Juan Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Per me Garibaldi non era altro che una strada della città dove abbondano mariachi, feste e ubriachi.

Questo libro mi ha aiutato a conoscere Giuseppe Garibaldi, l'unificatore di un'Italia che, dopo essere stata un impero (Roma), non era altro che un gruppo di stati indipendenti in costante conflitto per molti anni.

Pensare che l’Italia che conosciamo oggi ha meno anni di esistenza del Messico.

[? · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Roma O Morte"

[Parker Samelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly good overview of Garibaldi and the process of Italian unification.

[Chris Corpora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent telling of the life and career of this amazing figure -- flaws and all. The right balance between documentation and narrative flow. A pleasure to read.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a biography it captures and reinforces the charisma of Garibaldi. As a history, especially a military history, it records his victories and losses but doesn't give much commentary on them. There is a good deal of primary sources and quotations.
I'm left wondering about how Garibaldi seems more lucky than skilled.

[Bob Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book - as usual, Hibbert has written such a readable account of Garibaldi's life and times, and it's a rollicking narrative. I had no idea that the unification if Italy was so intricately bound up with other events in Europe (Louis Napoleon, Franco-Prussian war, Austro-Hungarian empire etc etc). Fascinating.
But so little on the Garibaldi biscuit ?

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summary of his life in Italy and his work to unify Italy. Pretty sparse about his time in South America. Not a very complete biography of his life.

[Crowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Narrative, however I wish more details were given regarding his Time in france and Brazil.