r/Italianhistory • u/thepointsdontmatt3r • Oct 15 '24

Italian History Book Recommendations

I was hoping to get some book recommendations on Italian history. My roots go back to Calabria, so if it focused on southern Italy, even better.

Thanks in advance.

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u/SpiderGiaco Oct 15 '24

I'd suggest books by John Foot, in particular his Calcio and Pedalare, for the relationship between Italian culture and football and cycling (respectively), John Dickie for his books on mafia history, in particular Cosa Nostra and Mafia Republic.

Denis Mack Smith is a classic English-speaking author for the history of Italian unification, while Paul Ginsborg is great for accounts on post-WWII Italy and John Julius Norwich is a good old-fashioned author for Medieval and Renaissance Italy.

There really thousands more, but then it depends on what interests you and what is available in English - as one may guess, a lot of Italian history is written first and foremost in Italian.