Italy
Georgia Meloni’s first 100 days have proved her critics wrong
Macho Italy’s first woman prime minister Giorgia Meloni has now governed for 100 days and I cannot help but notice…
Portrait of the week: Chancellor unveils his unBudget, Hilary Mantel dies and corgi prices soar
Home Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, presented a far-reaching ‘fiscal event’ (ineligible to be called a Budget), said…
Giorgia Meloni can’t afford to fight the EU
Ravenna, Italy The victory of Giorgia Meloni in Italy with ahuge majority of seats in parliament has prompted the expected…
Will Meloni be able to govern Italy?
Mario Draghi’s national unity government lost badly in yesterday’s Italian election – worse even than the polls predicted. Fratelli d’Italia,…
Second chances: The Marble Staircase, by Elizabeth Fair, reviewed
To reject ‘in rainy middle age the poignant emotions that belonged to youth and Italy’ is the lesson learned by…
Pre-Mussolini, most Italians couldn’t understand each other
Towards the end of Dandelions, Thea Lenarduzzi’s imaginative and deeply affecting memoir, the author quotes her grandmother’s remark that there…
Europe’s new migrant crisis
Earlier this month I spent a week in Sicily, driving south from Palermo to Agrigento and then east to Syracuse…
Dark days in Hollywood: Mercury Pictures Presents, by Anthony Marra, reviewed
Summer is a time for blockbusters and Anthony Marra has delivered the goods with Mercury Pictures Presents, a sweeping book…
Italy’s hostility to Nato is building
Ravenna, Italy The war in Ukraine has caused an unholy convergence of the left and right in Italy.…
The horror of gluten-free beer
I was reminded of the worst liquid that I have ever consumed. It was the last occasion on which I…
A taste of la dolce vita in Tuscany
Amid the grandeur of old Edinburgh, in the lee of the castle, is one of the finest buildings in Scotland:…
The relentless march of Europe’s zombie centrists
Journalists rarely had it so easy as when it came to writing up the final result of the French presidential…
The story of Tuscany’s all-female winery
The inhabitants of Tuscany and Umbria can claim to be the most civilised beings on the planet, even exceeding the…
The pointless tyranny of Italy’s Covid pass
While most European countries, especially Britain, are relaxing their Covid restrictions, Italy which has the toughest of the lot, this…
Are wolves stalking us on the school run?
Italy’s wolves are on the march
Mario Draghi and the murky quest to find Italy’s next president
In ancient Rome, a diviner called a haruspex would observe the entrails of sacrificed sheep and poultry, especially their livers,…
Can anyone beat Berlusconi to the Italian presidency?
Can Berlusconi become Italy’s next president?
Europe gripped by a fifth wave
How quickly things change. Just a month ago many EU countries were being praised for keeping some Covid restrictions in…
How Rome’s rubbish became a political problem
‘Excommunication,’ reads a stone plaque on the wall of the church of St Theodore in Rome, ‘and a fine of…
Reports of the demise of Italian populism are greatly exaggerated
Britain’s newspapers have called the results of the local elections in Italy the death of populism. The Times, for example,…
Was the US involved in neo-fascist Italian terrorism?
Last month, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi promised to declassify government documents involving two organisations: Gladio, an anti-communist paramilitary group…
The wine that made me change my mind about Valpolicella
There was a marvellous general of yesteryear called George Burns. He had a good war and a splendid peace. He…
Italians are seeing red over the Covid ‘Green Pass’
Italy’s Covid certificate is dividing the country
Italy, the ‘far right’ and the muted opposition to vaccine passes
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna Here is your starter for ten. Which Italian political party believes that individual liberty is sacred? Answer:…
The Italians are deluding themselves about the English
Not content with winning Euro 2020, many Italians have spent the days since the final engaged in a febrile orgy…
