Overview

"Shortlisted for the Costa Award Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize The acclaimed author of A Train in Winter and Village of Secrets delivers the next chapter in ""The Resistance Quartet"" the astonishing story of the aristocratic Italian family who stood up to Mussolini's fascism, and whose efforts helped define the path of Italy in the years between the World Wars--a profile in courage that remains relevant today. Members of the cosmopolitan, cultural aristocracy of Florence at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Rosselli family, led by their fierce matriarch, Amelia, were vocal anti-fascists. As populist, right-wing nationalism swept across Europe after World War I, and Italy's Prime Minister, Benito Mussolini, began consolidating his power, Amelia's sons Carlo and Nello led the opposition, taking a public stand against Il Duce that few others in their elite class dared risk. When Mussolini established a terrifying and brutal police state controlled by his Blackshirts--the squaddristi--the Rossellis and their anti-fascist circle were transformed into active resisters. In retaliation, many of the anti-fascists were arrested and imprisoned; others left the country to escape a similar fate. Tragically, Carlo and Nello were eventually assassinated by Mussolini's secret service. After Italy entered World War II in June 1940, Amelia, thanks to visas arranged by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt herself, fled to New York City with the remaining members of her family. Renowned historian Caroline Moorehead paints an indelible picture of Italy in the first half of the twentieth century, offering an intimate account of the rise of Il Duce and his squaddristi; life in Mussolini's penal colonies; the shocking ambivalence and complicity of many prominent Italian families seduced by Mussolini's promises; and the bold, fractured resistance movement whose associates sacrificed their lives to fight fascism. In A Bold and Dangerous Family, Moorehead once again pays tribute to heroes who fought to uphold our humanity during one of history's darkest chapters."

Full Product Details

9780062308313

Table of Contents

Reviews

A haunting reminder of the fragility of liberty and the dangers of complaisance. --Times (London) Moorehead recounts a story that deserves to be better known, exploiting her remarkable understanding of the nation and its culture. --Max Hastings, London Sunday Times Moorehead, a distinguished biographer and historian, tells the story of the Rosselli brothers and their mother Amelia, a playwright, with sensitivity, erudition, and balance.... A fine tribute. -- Financial Times This account of a patriotic Italian-Jewish family at the forefront of the resistance to Mussolini's regime follows the brothers.... But the center of the book is their mother, Amelia, a prominent playwright and feminist to whom they wrote frequently. Moorehead draws extensively on their letters, giving the reader an intimate sense of the everyday depredations of life under Fascism. --New Yorker Shines light on the Rosselli family... to illuminate the treacherous and contradictory nature of life in Il Duce's Italy.... As well versed in Italian socialism as she is in spy-novel tropes, Moorehead combines intellectual rigor with immersive storytelling that will appeal to specialists and casual readers alike. --Publishers Weekly An inspiring story, well told. --Booklist An absorbing, well-documented narrative.... A vivid portrait of resistance in dark, perilous times that is not without contemporary relevance. --Kirkus An extremely personal and engaging story about the price one family paid for its political resistance.... A must-read. --Library Journal, starred review Offers a neat capsule history of Italy in the first half of the century, particularly Mussolini's rise to power.... Hit[s] home... in its inescapable parallels to our current situation. Ms. Moorehead never makes the point explicitly, and she doesn't have to. --Wall Street Journal An intimate family portrait.... Moorehead has done us a great service in restoring the humanity of the Rosselli family.... It's the most complete portrait we have in English of this extraordinary family fighting--each in his or her own way--the most pernicious ideology of the last century. --New York Times Book Review

Moorehead recounts a story that deserves to be better known, exploiting her remarkable understanding of the nation and its culture. --Max Hastings, London Sunday Times A haunting reminder of the fragility of liberty and the dangers of complaisance. --Times (London) Moorehead, a distinguished biographer and historian, tells the story of the Rosselli brothers and their mother Amelia, a playwright, with sensitivity, erudition, and balance.... A fine tribute. -- Financial Times This account of a patriotic Italian-Jewish family at the forefront of the resistance to Mussolini's regime follows the brothers.... But the center of the book is their mother, Amelia, a prominent playwright and feminist to whom they wrote frequently. Moorehead draws extensively on their letters, giving the reader an intimate sense of the everyday depredations of life under Fascism. --New Yorker An absorbing, well-documented narrative.... A vivid portrait of resistance in dark, perilous times that is not without contemporary relevance. --Kirkus An extremely personal and engaging story about the price one family paid for its political resistance.... A must-read. --Library Journal, starred review Shines light on the Rosselli family... to illuminate the treacherous and contradictory nature of life in Il Duce's Italy.... As well versed in Italian socialism as she is in spy-novel tropes, Moorehead combines intellectual rigor with immersive storytelling that will appeal to specialists and casual readers alike. --Publishers Weekly Offers a neat capsule history of Italy in the first half of the century, particularly Mussolini's rise to power.... Hit[s] home... in its inescapable parallels to our current situation. Ms. Moorehead never makes the point explicitly, and she doesn't have to. --Wall Street Journal An intimate family portrait.... Moorehead has done us a great service in restoring the humanity of the Rosselli family.... It's the most complete portrait we have in English of this extraordinary family fighting--each in his or her own way--the most pernicious ideology of the last century. --New York Times Book Review An inspiring story, well told. --Booklist

A haunting reminder of the fragility of liberty and the dangers of complaisance. --Times (London) Moorehead recounts a story that deserves to be better known, exploiting her remarkable understanding of the nation and its culture. --Max Hastings, London Sunday Times Moorehead, a distinguished biographer and historian, tells the story of the Rosselli brothers and their mother Amelia, a playwright, with sensitivity, erudition, and balance.... A fine tribute. -- Financial Times This account of a patriotic Italian-Jewish family at the forefront of the resistance to Mussolini's regime follows the brothers.... But the center of the book is their mother, Amelia, a prominent playwright and feminist to whom they wrote frequently. Moorehead draws extensively on their letters, giving the reader an intimate sense of the everyday depredations of life under Fascism. --New Yorker Moorehead draws extensively on their letters, giving the reader an intimate sense of the everyday depredations of life under Fascism. --New Yorker A moving novelistic portrait. . . . An inspiring and fascinating read. --People on A Train in Winter By turns heartbreaking and inspiring. --New York Times Book Review on A Train in Winter A compelling and moving book. . . . . The literature of wartime France and the Holocaust is by now so vast as to confound the imagination, but when a book as good as this comes along, we are reminded that there is always room for something new. --Washington Post on A Train in Winter Le Chambon has long been mythologized in France for the actions of its inhabitants, who sheltered the refugees and helped many escape to Switzerland. But, as this riveting history shows, the story is more complex. --The New Yorker on Village of Secrets The definitive account. --Wall Street Journal on Village of Secrets Compelling and deeply informed.... [Moorehead] has done us the great service of unveiling the real lives behind the myth and in demonstrating that fallible human beings are far more interesting and dramatic figures than those who make up the stuff of legends. --New York Times Books Review on Village of Secrets Moorehead's portrait of the Rosselli brothers is at once a political history of pre-second world war Italy, a beautiful literary portrait of two brave young men, and a gripping tale of intrigue, espionage and escape.... I finished it impressed, breathless and enormously moved. --Alex Preston, The Observer (London) A major contribution to the study of anti-Fascism, further enriched by Caroline Moorehead's vivid portrayal of interwar Italy and Europe. --Jonathan Keates, Literary Review (London) Carefully, and with considerable skill, Moorehead juxtaposes the growth into maturity of the intelligent Florentines, Carlo and Nello, with a vivid account of the turbulent conditions that enabled Fascism to take root. --Miranda Seymour, Daily Telegraph (London) Much has been written about life under fascist rule.... But the study of a nation can never be as emotionally compelling as the study of a family. Expertly alternating vivid domestic detail with lucid exposition of the gradual evolution of totalitarianism, Caroline Moorehead allows her readers not only to know, but also to feel, how it was to endure fascist oppression. --Lucy Hughes-Hallett, The Guardian (London) An inspiring story, well told. --Booklist An absorbing, well-documented narrative.... A vivid portrait of resistance in dark, perilous times that is not without contemporary relevance. --Kirkus An extremely personal and engaging story about the price one family paid for its political resistance.... A must-read. --Library Journal, starred review Shines light on the Rosselli family... to illuminate the treacherous and contradictory nature of life in Il Duce's Italy.... As well versed in Italian socialism as she is in spy-novel tropes, Moorehead combines intellectual rigor with immersive storytelling that will appeal to specialists and casual readers alike. --Publishers Weekly Offers a neat capsule history of Italy in the first half of the century, particularly Mussolini's rise to power.... Hit[s] home... in its inescapable parallels to our current situation. Ms. Moorehead never makes the point explicitly, and she doesn't have to. --Wall Street Journal An intimate family portrait.... Moorehead has done us a great service in restoring the humanity of the Rosselli family.... It's the most complete portrait we have in English of this extraordinary family fighting--each in his or her own way--the most pernicious ideology of the last century. --New York Times Book Review

A haunting reminder of the fragility of liberty and the dangers of complaisance. --Times (London) Moorehead recounts a story that deserves to be better known, exploiting her remarkable understanding of the nation and its culture. --Max Hastings, London Sunday Times Moorehead, a distinguished biographer and historian, tells the story of the Rosselli brothers and their mother Amelia, a playwright, with sensitivity, erudition, and balance.... A fine tribute. -- Financial Times This account of a patriotic Italian-Jewish family at the forefront of the resistance to Mussolini's regime follows the brothers.... But the center of the book is their mother, Amelia, a prominent playwright and feminist to whom they wrote frequently. Moorehead draws extensively on their letters, giving the reader an intimate sense of the everyday depredations of life under Fascism. --New Yorker An inspiring story, well told. --Booklist An absorbing, well-documented narrative.... A vivid portrait of resistance in dark, perilous times that is not without contemporary relevance. --Kirkus An extremely personal and engaging story about the price one family paid for its political resistance.... A must-read. --Library Journal, starred review Shines light on the Rosselli family... to illuminate the treacherous and contradictory nature of life in Il Duce's Italy.... As well versed in Italian socialism as she is in spy-novel tropes, Moorehead combines intellectual rigor with immersive storytelling that will appeal to specialists and casual readers alike. --Publishers Weekly Offers a neat capsule history of Italy in the first half of the century, particularly Mussolini's rise to power.... Hit[s] home... in its inescapable parallels to our current situation. Ms. Moorehead never makes the point explicitly, and she doesn't have to. --Wall Street Journal An intimate family portrait.... Moorehead has done us a great service in restoring the humanity of the Rosselli family.... It's the most complete portrait we have in English of this extraordinary family fighting--each in his or her own way--the most pernicious ideology of the last century. --New York Times Book Review

Author Information

Caroline Moorehead is the New York Times bestselling author of the Resistance Quartet, which includes A Bold and Dangerous Family, Village of Secrets, and A Train in Winter, as well as Human Cargo, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. An acclaimed biographer, she has written for the New York Review of Books, The Guardian, and The Independent. She lives in London and Italy.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available