government under, 31, 40, 78–85, 105, 109, 111, 112, 128, 129, 132, 149, 220, 281, 285, 288–89, 291
il look
of, 73–75
and justice system, 263–64, 266–68
legacy of, 36
media interests of, 70, 78–79, 81, 83–84, 146, 149, 177, 191
political strategies of, 70, 81–85, 204
trials of, 83, 255, 268
wealth of, 78, 83, 177
on women, 149–50, 167
Bersaglieri, 3, 30
Biagi, Marco, assassination of, 105
bigliettini
(crib sheets), 61, 63
birth control, 92
birth rate, 154
Biscardi, Aldo, 209–10, 215
Black Death, 19
blacks, bias against, 40, 282
Blair, Tony, 121–22
Blasi, Ilary, 210
Boccaccio, Giovanni, 3, 99
Bologna, 4, 23–25, 52
Bonaparte, Napoléon, 22, 249
Borgias, 12, 122
Borsellino, Paolo, 230, 235
Bossi, Umberto, 67, 79, 243, 273
Botticelli, Sandro, 3, 65
Bourbons, 22, 275
Brera, Gianni, 209, 213
bribery, 43, 83, 238, 239, 242, 246, 247, 252, 263
n
Brown, Sarah, 74–75
“Bunga Bunga” parties, 80, 150
Buono Ordinario del Tesoro (BOT), 114
bureaucracy, 42, 43, 289
business, 176–77, 182, 216–26, 232
bustarella
(“little envelope”), 252
Byzantine Empire, 14–15, 17–18
Calabria region, 6, 27, 125–26, 141, 142, 184, 213, 233, 274, 276, 277
mafia in,
see
’Ndrangheta
Calciopoli
scandal, 214–15
Calderoli, Roberto, 40–42, 281
Camorra, 7, 228–33
Campania region, 7, 107, 231, 233–34, 277, 279, 285
cannabis use, 198
“Canto degli Italiani, Il” (“L’Inno di Mameli”; national anthem), 29–30
Capatti, Alberto, 100–101
capital punishment, 91–92
Capri, 5, 7
Carabinieri, 42, 62, 77, 120, 235
Carnevale,
Carnival, 93
Carroll, Lewis, 50, 95
Casal di Principe, 233
Casaleggio, Gianroberto, 85
Casalesi clan, 233
Casinò di Venezia, 117
casinos, gambling, 117
Cassa per il Mezzogiorno, 276
Castello Tesino, 139–40
Castiglione, Baldassare, 188, 249
Catania, 5, 68, 107, 146
Catherine of Siena, Saint, 4, 136
Cavour, Camillo Benso, Count of, 125, 271–72
cell phones, 170–72
central Italy, 25, 94, 100
centri sociali,
182, 202
charities, 129
n,
132
Charlemagne, 12–13, 15–17
Charles VIII, king of France, 271
cheating, tolerance for, 60–64, 82
cheeses, 98–100, 102
children, 152–54, 178–82, 257–58
Christian Democrats (DC), 28–29, 82, 127–29, 130, 174, 203–4, 220, 241, 245
Church and, 38, 127–29, 158, 220
dominance of, 30, 58, 108, 117, 127–28, 143, 158, 219, 221
Churchill, Winston, 51–52, 207
ciao,
subtleties of use of, 191–92
citizenship, 278–79, 283
civil partnerships, 129, 175
civismo
(public spirit), 25
class, 74–76, 127–28, 141, 159–61, 192–94
Clean Hands (
Mani Pulite
) investigation, 221, 237, 238, 241, 245, 248
cocaine trade, 198, 232, 233
Coldiretti, 128, 130
Cold War, 23, 30, 36, 37, 52, 58–59, 144, 203, 240, 267, 290–91
Collodi, Carlo (Carlo Lorenzini), 60
colonialism, 37, 283–84
Columbus, Christopher, 4, 10
Commedia dell’Arte, 64–65
commerce, 216–26
communes, 16–17, 19, 20, 25, 202
communication, 65–69, 75–76, 82
Communione e Liberazione (CL), 131–33
communism, 38, 40, 81, 82, 160, 288
Communists, Italian, 23–24, 30–31, 34–35, 38, 51, 126, 128, 141, 143, 184, 203–4, 206, 219–21, 263, 267
Como, Lake, 9, 50–51
Concordat (1984), 129
condono,
fines reduced by, 255–56
Confederazione Cooperative Italiane (CCI, Confcooperative), 128, 130
Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori (CISL), 128, 130
confession, sacrament of, 44, 241, 258, 260
conspiracy theories, 69–70
Constantine the Great, Byzantine emperor, 16
Constantinople (Istanbul), 14, 18
Constitutional Court, 68, 262
construction, unauthorized, 251–52, 255–56
contraception, 161–63
conventions, laws vs., 252–53
copiare,
60–61
Cordero di Montezemolo, Luca, 60–61
corporations, 147, 150, 176–77
Corriere della Sera,
27
n,
74, 161, 194, 257, 272
n
corruption, 222, 237–48
bureaucracy as response to, 42–43, 240
political, 82, 219, 220–21, 238–39, 241–48
tolerance for, 241–44, 247–48, 256–57
see also
scandals
Cortegiano, Il
(
The Book of the Courtier;
Castiglione), 188, 249
Cosa Nostra, 5, 54, 68–69, 225–26, 229–36, 272, 273
hierarchy of, 229–30
Così è
(
se vi pare
) (
It IS So
[
If You Think So
]; Pirandello), 54–55
Costa Concordia
disaster, 291, 293
Counter-Reformation, 1, 3, 122
Court of Cassation (Italian supreme court), 50
n,
54
n,
244, 254, 259–60, 268, 285
Craxi, Bettino, 78, 129, 220–21, 263
creativity (
fantasia
), 56–71
crib sheets (
bigliettini
), 61, 63
crime rate, 178, 227, 234, 285–86
crucifixes, public display of, 121
cuisine, 8–9, 10, 11, 93–103, 197, 275
ethnic, 101–3
historical evolution of, 98–100
custody, pretrial, 265–66
D’Antona, Massimo, assassination of, 104–5
David
(Michelangelo), 8, 65
death masks, 64–65
death penalty, 91–92
Decameron, The
(Boccaccio), 99, 159
de Chirico, Giorgio, 151–52
De Curtis, Antonio,
see
Totò
Dell’Utri, Marcello, 54, 79
Del Vecchio, Leonardo, 177, 187
democracy, Italian, 36, 57–59
Democratic Republic of Congo, 281
Democrazia Cristiana (DC),
see
Christian Democrats
Depretis, Agostino, 36–37
dialects, Italian, 27–28, 274–75, 277
dietrologia
(“behind-ism”), 69–70
dimissioni in bianco,
152–53
disabilities, disabled, 88–89
divorce, 129, 142, 173–74
dolce vita, La,
86
n,
213, 292
Donation of Constantine, 16
Donna e i suoi rapporti sociali, La
(“Woman and Her Social Relationships”; Mozzoni), 142
Donne e Qualità della Vita (“Women and Quality of Life”), 148
dottore,
192–93
Douglas, Norman, 141, 142
dreams, superstitions and, 136–37
drug trafficking, 232, 233–34
drug use, 198
drunkenness, 197–98
Durex company, 157, 158
earthquakes, 7, 107
in Haiti, 288
in Japan, 201
Ease of Doing Business Index, 222
“economic miracle” (1950s–1960s), 9–10, 112, 128, 184, 274, 290, 291
economy, Italian:
adherence to tradition in, 103
average income in, 110
downturns in, 80–81, 114–15, 118, 218, 221, 269, 288–89, 291–92
effect of corruption on, 237, 240, 246
family businesses in, 176–77, 182
GDP, 49, 80, 111, 182, 231, 286, 288, 290
in global financial crisis, 80–81
growth, 238
historical roots of decline of, 21
lack of innovation and competitiveness in, 181–82, 221–24, 246
myths propagated about, 49
north-south disparity of wealth in, 275–77
participation of women in, 147
perceptions of, 84
protectionism in, 221–23, 275–76
restrictive practices in, 216–26
welfare in, 48
education system:
cheating in, 60–63
Church in, 127, 132–35
elderly in, 112–13, 147
forms of address in, 193
girls in, 144
as point of commonality, 273–74
in promotion of sex education, 162
n
public shools in, 179, 273
restrictive practices in, 224–25
women in, 147–48, 275
n
8
1
⁄
2
,
213
Einhard, 12–13
elderly, 110, 254
care for, 177–78, 180
influence of, 112–14, 147, 181
elections, 70, 79, 83, 112, 272
of 2013, 116, 150, 168
El Mahroug, Karima (Ruby Rubacuorei), 79–80
emigration, 9, 155, 276, 289
see also
Mezzogiorno
Emilia-Romagna region, 8–9, 10, 25, 184, 253
n
employment legislation reform, 103–4
Eni oil and gas company, 53–54
Esposizione Universale di Roma (EUR), 199–201
Espresso, L’,
40, 124, 130, 137, 246
Etna, Mount, 5, 68, 107, 146
euro, 118, 224
adoption of, 31, 114, 289
European Commission, 31, 225, 227
European Economic Community (EEC), 290
Europeanism, 290–91
European Union (EU), 42, 48, 81, 102, 112, 147, 198, 222, 290–91
Italy’s place in, 49, 111, 266
eurozone, crises in, 49, 80, 241, 269, 289, 291