A Bold and Dangerous Family, Caroline Moorehead
A Bold and Dangerous Family, Caroline Moorehead
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A Bold and Dangerous Family
The Remarkable Story of an Italian Mother, Her Two Sons, and Their Fight Against Fascism

Author: Caroline Moorehead

Narrator: John Lee

Unabridged: 14 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 10/03/2017


Synopsis

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.

About Caroline Moorehead

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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Violet on October 08, 2021

I'm not a great fan of biographies. The conventional biography is a tired old cart horse. The formula needs overhauling. Something AJA Symons did with his biography of Baron Corvo and Laurent Binet took up with his book about Heydrich. But for the most part the formula still remains unchanged from t......more

Goodreads review by Stef on July 01, 2017

At about one quarter of the book the author is in fact still in the introduction. Too many details slow down the story. All the shortlived magazines, ever changing meeting groups, temporary acquaintances are described in unnecessary detail. There must be better books about the fascist period. Some i......more

Goodreads review by Stephen on November 11, 2018

There are so many books about the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazis but much less has been written about Mussolini’s fascist regime in Italy mainly, I suspect, because it was more subtle in its brutality and nowhere near as efficient and powerful. Caroline Moorhead provides us with the best kind......more

Goodreads review by Michelle on October 21, 2018

I started this book with very little knowledge regarding Italian history, and I had never heard of the Rosselli family. This book is an incredibly detailed biography of the Rosselli family, primarily the matriarch Amelia and two of her sons, Nello and Carlo. If you are looking for a light read or a......more

Goodreads review by Sam on February 05, 2018

This is a true tale at once tragic, and hopeful. Tragic loss, for the family involved, and more grandly for the country, but uplifting for modern times, when we in Europe and beyond see our democracies increasingly under threat from without and within, to see that we can produce these brave selfless......more