The Sack of Rome: How a Beautiful European Country with a Fabled History and a Storied Culture Was Taken Over by a Man Named Silvio Berlusconi - Hardcover

Stille, Alexander

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 159420053X ISBN 13: 9781594200533

Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The, 2006

Synopsis

A profile of modern Italy as reflected by the leadership decisions of Silvio Berlusconi traces the president's career and influence, contending that his wealth, power, and ties to corruption have resulted in a dangerous new form of political populism and victimized everyday citizens. 35,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Alexander Stille is the author of The Future of the Past, Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic, and Benevolence and Betrayal: Five Italian Jewish Families Under Fascism, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Award. He is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications.

Reviews

Starred Review. In this astute analysis of contemporary Italian political culture under Berlusconi, Stille intricately yet seamlessly traces the prime minister's rise from Milan real estate developer to international political phenomenon. "A troubling avant-garde figure, a kind of Citizen Kane on steroids," Berlusconi has and will continue to have an impact that far outreaches his political career, Stille argues. A calculating master of the Italian proverb, "Se non è vero, è ben trovato" ("If it's not true, it's well said"), Berlusconi is a global archetype rather than a particularly Italian anomaly. Stille (Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic; Benevolence and Betrayal: Five Italian Jewish Families Under Fascism) has exquisitely analyzed not only contemporary Italian political culture but the ominous rise of an international political culture in which figures such as Berlusconi can flourish (though the recent election leaves his political future in doubt). Stille writes with such wit and verve that this book will easily appeal both to close followers of contemporary Italian politics and to those simply interested in a prescient, fascinating portrait of a politician and the international cultural shifts surrounding his ascent. The last chapter in particular solidifies this book as an absorbing tour-de-force. (June)
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Arriving after the recent ouster of Silvio Berlusconi as Italy's prime minister, this fluent account of the tycoon's media and political careers frames his ascent as both uniquely Italian and disconcertingly universal. Berlusconi used an acute sales instinct to forge political alliances and to appeal to a vast middle class of Italians. Along the way, he developed alleged ties to the Mafia, dodged charges of bribery and cronyism, and exploited his position to preserve his media dominance. Some of Stille's most colorful anecdotes are pressed into service more than once, but his exposition of the various abuses and scandals is clear and damning. Pointing to the rise of super-rich politicians in America, the trend toward a depoliticized electorate, and the increasing consolidation of media under a few corporate powerhouses, Stille also makes an impassioned, if occasionally unpersuasive, argument that Berlusconi "is a reflection of ourselves in a fun-house mirror, our features distorted and exaggerated but distinctly recognizable."
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The unorthodox political journey of Italy's Silvio Berlusconi receives a generally caustic appraisal by Stille. Author of several perceptive books about the contemporary Italian social and political scene (Excellent Cadavers, 1996), Stille tempers his criticisms with his trenchant understanding of how a business magnate like Berlusconi was able to take advantage of a national political establishment that imploded in scandal in the early 1990s. Stille also does not neglect the tabloid quality to Berlusconi's persona and career that renders his story a rambunctiously readable one. A salesman to his fingertips, whose slogan was "Profession: Friendship," Berlusconi assembled a media empire in Italy through a great deal of chicanery, according to Stille; hence, various prosecutions for bribery and consorting with mobsters have dogged the politician. He, though, pleads persecution from leftists resentful of his pro-market, pro-American policies. Somewhat dense in details but clear in plot, Stille's account is an informed, even entertaining, access point for understanding Italy's political present Gilbert Taylor
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Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 159420053X
• ISBN 13: 9781594200533
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400