Italy was the centre of Europe's first worldwide empire and the home of the Renaissance. Its political and cultural influences have encircled the globe. Today it is the fifth most visited country in the world. With a population of 60 million, it welcomes, each year, almost double that number of tourists. No other country has as many UNESCO World Heritage sites- fifty-eight and counting.

The Shortest History of Italy brings these and many other parts of the country alive through a panoramic sweep across some 3,000 years of politics, culture, history and larger-than-life, world-bestriding personalities such as Julius Caesar, St Francis of Assisi and Giuseppe Garibaldi, together with a cast of scheming popes, rampaging barbarians, artistic geniuses, unscrupulous politicians and ambitious mafiosi.

Lively and entertaining, this is the history of one of the world's most fascinating places.

'King has the gift of clear, unpretentious exposition, and an instinctive narrative flair.' -The Guardian

'An exceptional portraitist and craftsman' -Booklist
Contents-
1. 'That People in Togas'- Ancient Italy and the Roman Republic
2. 'Let the Die Be Cast'- The Crisis of the Roman Republic
3. 'Masters of All in Existence'- The Roman Empire
4. 'From a Kingdom of Gold to One of Iron and Rust'- Decline and Fall of the Empire
5. Goths, Longbeards, Franks, Saracens and Normans- Italy Under the 'Barbarians'
6. 'All the Cities of Italy'- The Middle Ages
7. Italy's Age of Gold- The Renaissance
8. 'Go, Thought, on Golden Wings'- Italy in the Illuminismo
9. 'Here We Make Italy'- The Risorgimento
10. 'Dov' La Vittoria?' The Kingdom of Italy
11. The 'Putrid Corpse' of Liberty- Italy Under Fascism
12. 'Andr Tutto Bene'- Italy Since the War