Phoenix: Garibaldi

It has always surprised me that Guiseppe Garibaldi is not a better known figure in the United States. Unfortunately, there is a tendancy in the Anglo/American world to undervalue modern Italian military and political accomplishments. An unbiased reading of modern European History has to place Garibaldi in the top tier of Nineteenth Century European leaders. In order to learn more about Garibaldi, I started reading one of George Macauley Trevelyan's accounts of Garibaldi's life but I found his writing style to be very difficult to read. Although a major historian, Trevelyan writes in a flowery and almost ornate style that is difficult for a Twenty First Century reader to appreciate. At 637 pages, Jasper Ridley's "Pheonix" is a comprehensive biography of Garibaldi's life. Every facet of his long and tumultous life is covered in good detail. Ridley's approach is conscientous and workmanlike in its execution. It just may be the best Garibaldi biography available in the English language. The only fault I find with this book is that Jasper Ridley does not have the novelist's eye for nuance and detail. Guiseppe Garibaldi was one of the most romantic and noble figures of modern European history. His story deserves one of those multi-volume works by a great narrative historian like Robert Massie or Barbara Tuchman. George Macauley Trevelyan appreciated the heroic quality of Garibaldi's life but unfortunately his high Victorian writing style is now dated. Until the Twenty First Century finds its Trevelyan, Jaspar Ridley's biography will have to serve.

Garibaldi the enigmatic italian leader who people do not know enough about. A man who felt dictatorship was the ideal form of government. Someone who opposed the church and led the 1000 red shirts to liberate Italy from foreign rule. He helped to unify Italy and at the important moment gave up power. Most interesting in this book is the look at the Garibaldis adventures in Uruguay, the 9 years siege of Montevideo, sent me searching for more on the subject. Also the insights into Garibaldis first action when he was briefly in command of Rome against Papal forces and his hatred of austrian oppression of the Italians. A great and unknown figure, read this book and know him better.

This is the only book about Garibaldi that is not boring as hell, basically. This book actually talks about his days in south america, which other works tend to gloss over. I literally could not find out anything about those years spent fighting in south america until I read this book. For that alone it is worth it. Plus, it has a very attractive cover. I once showing this book to a midget named Roscoe, and he said he didn't know who garibaldi was, but he wanted to read it because he liked the cover so much. I told him to get his own, and he ran away screaming and flailing his arms in the air. He even forgot his boombox!