Buondì.
If you read Monday’s article, you’ll know the club’s Summer Series (30 FREE articles with online audio) has begun.
The series is titled ‘Dal Risorgimento alla Seconda Guerra Mondiale’ and is the fourth out of five. We began three years back with the mystical origins of Rome, then skimmed the Medieval period, touched on some of the more interesting parts of the Renaissance, and so arrived at the point at which at least some of the main characters were drawing up plans for the Italian peninsula to become an actual nation-state, like France, Austria or Britain.
There are two problems with history, I find (and I did my college degree in the subject, many decades ago.)
First of all, there’s an awful lot of it. In the case of the Italian peninsula, more than two thousand years of risings and fallings, comings and goings.
Even for those with a good memory and an insatiable thirst for detail – having got the Roman kings, then dozens of emperors, straight in their heads – are likely to be defeated by a thousand years of post-empire ‘Italian’ kings, who changed as regularly as clockwork, perhaps once a decade on average, like the ticking of a medieval metronome.
Secondly, history is infinitely complicated! Even if you can get your head around the various Renaissance city states competing for power and influence, you still need to keep in mind the other European interlocutors, sending their armies and occupiers hither and thither, from the eastern and western edges of the Alps (France and Austria, respectively), down through the peninsula itself, and trading influence over, and control of, the islands of Sardinia and Sicily.
Each zone, each region, each city, has thousands of years of events, and the’re all connected!
Sigh.
The problem is well illustrated in Episode 2 of this year’s Summer Series, which introduces Camillo Benso conte di Cavour (1810-1861).
Now, I won’t say I’d never heard of him, as there are streets and piazze all over Italy named after the guy, but besides having a vague idea that he was something to do with the ‘Risorgimento’ (the term is explained in Episodio 1. Il Risorgimento italiano (XIX secolo)), I knew not much more than his surname.
Turns out he was a funny-looking character, rich as Midas, and so a big wheel at the court of ‘il re di Sardegna e Piemonte, Vittorio Emanuele II’, the pseudo-monarch who owned a couple of bits of the Italian peninsula in the period before Italy was Italy.
Cavour was no romantic hero, like the poncho-wearing rebel, Garibaldi (see the final episode of last year’s series, Il Rinascimento, Episodio 30. Garibaldi, l’eroe dei due mondi). More of a liberal reformer, really. Which is important, of course, but much less sexy.
Sadly for the Risorgimento’s movie rights, these two dreamers were far from being the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid of nineteenth-century European geopolitics. Apparently, they couldn’t stand each other.
Anyway, because there’s a lot of history, because it’s complicated, and because the ‘risorgimento’ is important in ‘Italian’ history, our series is taking the characters and events of the formation of the Italian state in what are hopefully bite-sized chunks.
Monday was an introduction to the term ‘Risorgimento‘, today we’re doing the bespectacled Cavour, and on Friday we’ll hear about the King himself, and see how things began to play out.
N.b. I noticed quite a few difficult words in Episode 2 – words and expressions I didn’t/don’t know. If you want to look them up, be my guest, but I didn’t bother, figuring that if I hadn’t come across them during the last quarter century, they’re probably not top of my list of priorities for the next.
I was interested, however, in learning about the interplay between Cavour, the Austrians, and Napoleon III of France. That part is hugely relevant, both to the history that came before and, as we shall see, to what happens later in the Summer Series. WWI, for instance. But neighbours, huh? Who’d have ’em?
Anyway, don’t let the details get you down. Focus on the big picture, and if you find Episode 2 linguistically-challenging (it is), don’t panic! This one’s probably just a glitch. There’ll be twenty-eight others, and some of them are bound to be much easier.
Just chill, and keep reading/listening!
Cosi. Garibaldi – ‘the rebel of two worlds’; Cavour – funny-looking rich kid but the power behind the throne; Risorgimento – the ‘resurging’ of Italy – hurrah, maybe we’ll get our country back after fifteen-hundred years of chaos!
History page | Episodio 2. Camillo Benso conte di Cavour (1810-1861)
A venerdì.
P.S. History lover? 4 half-price ‘easy reader’ ebooks!
Costs for the club’s Summer Series are met (in part) by recycling the FREE material from the website as ebooks, which some might find more convenient. The ebook versions can easily be printed, for instance, and there are Kindle and .epub versions available to those who ask.
So this week, for the half-price ebook offer, EasyReaders.org is discounting four Italian easy readers for history lovers: the first three years’ Summer Series, plus a story about Garibaldi, as background to the new one.
Get any or all of them for just £4.99 each, until Sunday 16th July.
And yes, the half-price ‘eBook of the Week’ offers used to cost £3.99. But they’ve put their ‘easy reader’ ebook prices up, from £7.99 to £9.99. So half-price is now £4.99.
Check the FREE sample chapters (linked to below). If the material is too easy or too difficult for you, browse the Catalog page to find something more appropriate to your level.
La storia di Roma
The ebook version of a thirty-part series of articles with online audio that walks a curious student of Italian through over a thousand years of history, from the mystical founding of Rome in or around 753 BCE to the end of the empire in 476 CE.
While the articles that make up this ebook are available for free at https://onlineitalianclub.com/history/, this version of the material (.pdf, .mobi Kindle-compatible, .epub versions available) is easily printable and/or readable on an ebook reader, such as the Kindle.
Please note: unlike our other ‘easy reader’ ebooks, for reasons of length this one does not contain glossaries of difficult words nor comprehension exercises after each chapter. Take a look at the free sample chapters before you buy!
- .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
- .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
- 30 CHAPTERS to read and listen to, over ninety pages!
- Suitable for students at upper-intermediate level or above
- Download your Free Sample Chapters (.pdf)
Buy La storia di Roma just £4.99 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog
Il Medioevo
The ebook version of a thirty-part series of articles with online audio that walks a curious student of Italian through a neglected period of history, from the end of the Roman empire in 476 CE to the fall of Constantinople, nearly a thousand years later in 1453 CE.
While the articles that make up this ebook are available for free at https://onlineitalianclub.com/history/, this version of the material (.pdf, .mobi Kindle-compatible, .epub versions available) is easily printable and/or readable on an ebook reader, such as the Kindle.
Please note: unlike our other ‘easy reader’ ebooks, for reasons of length this one does not contain glossaries of difficult words nor comprehension exercises after each chapter. Take a look at the free sample chapters before you buy!
- .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
- .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
- 30 CHAPTERS to read and listen to!
- Suitable for students at upper-intermediate level or above
- Download your Free Sample Chapters (.pdf)
Buy Il Medioevo just £4.99 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog
Il Rinascimento
This ebook version of a thirty-part series of articles with online audio walks a curious student of Italian through thirty chapters of history and covers, in outline, the intellectual and political changes on the Italian peninsula during the Renaissance period and after (from the 15th to 19th centuries).
While the articles that make up this ebook are available for free at https://onlineitalianclub.com/history/, this version of the material (.pdf, .mobi Kindle-compatible, .epub versions available) is easily printable and/or readable on an ebook reader, such as the Kindle.
Please note: unlike our other ‘easy reader’ ebooks, for reasons of length this one does not contain glossaries of difficult words nor comprehension exercises after each chapter. Take a look at the free sample chapters before you buy!
- .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
- .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
- 30 CHAPTERS to read and listen to!
- Suitable for students at intermediate level or above
- Download your Free Sample Chapters (.pdf)
Buy Il Rinascimento just £4.99 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog
Garibaldi sul ‘Piemonte’
Nel 1860 l’Italia non è ancora un unico paese: è divisa in piccoli stati che vengono costantemente attaccati e invasi dalle grandi potenze europee. In questo periodo il sud Italia, dalla Sicilia a Napoli, è occupato dai Borboni. Ed è proprio da qui che il marinaio genovese rivoluzionario e repubblicano Garibaldi e mille volontari (“garibaldini”) spinti dallo spirito patriottico e dall’amore per la libertà, iniziano l’opera di liberazione e unificazione del paese.
“Voi sapete che questa riunione è segreta, giusto? Non potete dire niente a nessuno, ci siamo capiti?!” chiede ansiosamente Raffaele Rubattino, il grande costruttore e proprietario di navi ai tre uomini presenti. Poi si alza dalla sedia e si stropiccia la faccia con la mano.
“Oh mio Dio, cosa sto facendo!” dice Rubattino ridendo nervosamente. Garibaldi, seduto su una sedia di legno, lo guarda con un sorriso sereno, si gratta la barba bionda, si passa una mano fra i capelli lunghi e pettinati all’indietro e poi nasconde le braccia nel suo poncho. Alle sue spalle stanno in piedi Pasquale e Pietro, due garibaldini che lo hanno accompagnato all’incontro. Entrambi sono venditori del mercato, abituati a fare affari, ma questa volta non si tratta di vendere frutta e formaggi!
Garibaldi, che fino a quel momento è rimasto in silenzio, prende la parola con il suo tono autoritario e calmo: “Vi ripeto il piano, signor Rubattino. I vostri lavoratori lasceranno le due navi, che chiameremo il Piemonte e il Lombardo, giù nel porto. Poi i miei uomini le prenderanno. Sembrerà un furto, e con le navi rubate partiremo da Quar…”
- .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
- .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
- 8 chapters to read and listen to
- Comprehension questions to check your understanding
- Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
- Suitable for students at intermediate level or above
- Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)
Buy Garibaldi sul ‘Piemonte’ just £4.99 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | Catalog
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P.P.S. 
Don’t forget to read/listen to Tuesday’s bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news, will you?
It’s FREE, as is subscribing, to receive each thrice-weekly bulletin directly in your email inbox, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
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Mayken says
Ciao Daniel,
Thank you for these reminders fo the summer series. Mi ricordo that I didn’t finish the Roman series (too much other stuff going on in my life) but I still had the virtual bookmark of the episode where Id stopped; So last night I picked up where I’d left off far too long ago and now I’m finally almost through with the Romans. I don’t mind being a few years behind, and I won’t attempt to catch up with this year’s series, but I’ll definitely continue, as it’s very interesting, and even with the Ancient Romans I have learned some new facts plus of course improved my Italian 🙂
Thank you for doing these history summer series and my apologies that I’m lagging so far behind.
Mayken
Daniel says
It’s not a race, Mayken, don’t worry! Do it at your own pace. And no need to do the history in sequence, either. Skip to the current one, why not?
Lynne F says
Certainly more challenging linguistically today Daniel, but most of the new vocabulary could be worked out in context and for the few that I couldn’t well on the third reading I clicked on the word then on “look up ” and instantly the meaning was there.
Good advice again about not letting the detail get you down, I studied history up to
A level It was too easy, well actually not very easy to remember all the dates as our teacher insisted, It is a good idea to make some reference to the timing of major
events. What was not so easy and certainly more thought-provoking was to consider what led up to the events and the immediate and long-term impact of them, as you alluded to with the relationship between the protagonists. Look forward to Chapter 3
Anita says
How do you enable “look up” Lynne?
Lynne F says
Hi Anita , I just click on the word in the text, which is then highlighted. There is a drop-down menu and the first option is ‘Look Up”, underneath there is a list of other options. (Apple computer sorry I don’t know if this happens on other makes ). I try to work out the gist without using this but sometimes I just need to know. 🙂
Like you, I have found the link challenging but am doing it in little chunks, and agree Cavour ,well quite a character .
Anita says
Thanks Lynne. Will give it a try – I also have an Apple – but will hopefully not use it much. Like you, I do try and work out the gist first!
Have a great weekend.
Lynne F says
Hope it works for you, Anita. Enjoy your weekend too. And over in Italy, I hope you find the coast a little cooler than central Bologna Daniel 🙂
Daniel says
It’s about 5C cooler, with some breeze, so yes, more pleasant than Bo. Our school in the historic center has air-conditioning in every classroom, but I mostly work from home, which is out on the plain, plagued by zanzare, and doesn’t…
Anita says
Quite a challenge today but was able to get the gist of it – with no dictionary! The youtube link was even more of a challenge but surprisingly I understood more than I initially thought – hope to finish it over the weekend but ‘piano piano’!
Quite a character Cavour – pity he and Garibaldi didn’t get on as they would have made a formidable team.