The Italians (47 page)

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