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Cavour
CONTENTS Heredity and Environment Travel-Years The Journalist In Parliament The Great Ministry The Crimean War - Struggle with the Church The Congress of Paris The Pact of PlombiPres The War of 1859 - Villafranca Savoy and Nice The Sicilian Expedition The Kingdom of Italy Rome voted the Capital - Conclusion Chief Authorities
- GenresEuropean History
222 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1898
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 15, 2015
This an absolutely outstanding biography of one of the great leaders of the Risorgimento or the Italian struggle of independence. The author who would have ten when Cavour died who was a near contemporary of Cavour. She relies on her knowledge of the milieu and secondary sources rather than intensive work in the archives to draw her conclusion which ultimately works for the benefit of the Anglophone reader in the 21st century.
An aristocrat like Cavour, Countess Cesaresco believed passionately that the best form of government was a constitutional monarchy in which the nobles would have enough power to offset the irresponsible instincts of the democratic hordes. Suffice to say, the Countess considered Cavour to be a hero and Garibaldi to be a highly dangerous demagogue from the lower classes. Given her beliefs, the Countess is able to put herself in Cavour's shoes as she describes how he masterfully managed Garibaldi, Palmerston, Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel in order to create the Kingdom of Italy.
I agree entirely with the Countess's own assessment of the strengths of her vantage point. She wrote: "The sagacious historian ought not lightly to set aside the current conviction of contemporaries. Those who come after are much better informed as the data, but they fail to catch the atmospheric tendency, the beginning-to-drift of which witnesses are sensible."
This is a fine book that indeed recreates the atmosphere and drift of the era. It would be an excellent complement to any modern biography based on more extensive archival work.
An aristocrat like Cavour, Countess Cesaresco believed passionately that the best form of government was a constitutional monarchy in which the nobles would have enough power to offset the irresponsible instincts of the democratic hordes. Suffice to say, the Countess considered Cavour to be a hero and Garibaldi to be a highly dangerous demagogue from the lower classes. Given her beliefs, the Countess is able to put herself in Cavour's shoes as she describes how he masterfully managed Garibaldi, Palmerston, Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel in order to create the Kingdom of Italy.
I agree entirely with the Countess's own assessment of the strengths of her vantage point. She wrote: "The sagacious historian ought not lightly to set aside the current conviction of contemporaries. Those who come after are much better informed as the data, but they fail to catch the atmospheric tendency, the beginning-to-drift of which witnesses are sensible."
This is a fine book that indeed recreates the atmosphere and drift of the era. It would be an excellent complement to any modern biography based on more extensive archival work.
May 8, 2026
A character sketch/essay. Dated but entertainingly written. (Still looking for a modern bio in English)
September 2, 2023
Cavour is little remembered today outside of Italy. Yet, he was one of the 19th century's great statesmen. An excellent over 100 year old biography here from Countess Cesaresco who never stops reminding us of Cavour's greatness (or his Anglophilia). Still this isn't a pure hagiography. Despite the age of the book the prose really flows and the author reminds us of many episodes and "what-ifs" of history that have been long-forgotten.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews