Sport Italia: The Italian Love Affair with Sport - Hardcover

'I particularly like the way the subject matter is embedded in the history and politics of the country and how the author is able to blend the unusual politicization of sports in Italy. One of the best.' - Donald Sassoon, Professor of Comparative European History, Queen Mary, University of London; 'While others have chosen to view the Italian psyche through food, art, opera and architecture, Martin dissects a nation via sporting passion. No stone is left unturned and the book explains how sport has influenced political attitude, cultural difference and an often claustrophobic sense of belonging in a hugely divided country. Corruption, intrigue, bribery, scandal, Berlusconi, mafia and Maradona are all here. Highly recommended.' - inbedwithmaradona.com; 'A book that was waiting to be written.' - Simon Kuper, author of Football Against the Enemy; 'From Mussolini to Moggiopoli, political interference and scandal has never been far from calico, and Martin's book explores the integral role of sport on Italy's identity. It's an ambitious study, but one the author backs up with stacks of insight and diligent research.' - Four Four Two

The Italian love affair with sport is passionate, voracious, all-consuming. It provides a backdrop and a narrative to almost every aspect of daily life in Italy and the distinctively pink-coloured newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport is devoured by almost half a million readers every day. Narrating the history of modern Italy through its national passion for sport, Sport Italia provides a completely new portrayal of one of Europe's most alluring, yet contradictory countries, tracing the highs and lows of Italy's sporting history from its Liberal pioneers through Mussolini and the 1960 Rome Olympics to the Berlusconi era. By interweaving essential themes of Italian history, its politics, society and economy with a history of the passion for sport in the country, Simon Martin tells the story of modern Italy in a fresh and colourful way, illustrating how and why sport is so strongly embedded in both politics and society, and how it is inseparable from the concept of Italian national identity. Showing sport's capacity to both unite and deeply divide, this book reveals a novel and previously unexplored element of the history of a society and its state, which will be an essential read for sports fans, historians and students alike.