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This book reassesses the history of Italian communism in international perspective. Analyzing the rise and fall of the Italian Communist Party as a case study in the global history of communism, Silvio Pons considers a wide range of relational and temporal contexts, from the practices of internationalism to the training of militants and leaders, and to networks established not only in Europe but also in the colonial and postcolonial world. Pons focuses on the attempts of the Italian Communist Party to forge an intellectually defensible party program that combined the international demands of Moscow with the Italians' attempts to develop their own foreign and domestic policies according to their own political circumstances. Following three leaders of the Italian Communist Party (Antonio Gramsci, Palmiro Togliatti, and Enrico Berlinguer) from the First World War to the fall of the Soviet Union, Silvio Pons considers the broader relationship between communism and Cold War history, the history of decolonization, and the rise of "Europe" as a political category.
"With the translation of this seminal book by one of Italy's leading historians, the English-speaking world now can gain an authoritative understanding of the causes and consequences of the once-mighty Italian Communist Party's momentous demise. Silvio Pons offers a fresh and original interpretation of the three leading protagonists in this epic story: Antonio Gramsci, Palmiro Togliatti, and Enrico Berlinguer." —Richard Drake, University of Montana
"As Pons is one of the foremost authorities on 20th-century Eastern European history, this English translation of I comunisti italiani e gli altri will be welcomed by specialists and graduate students alike.... Recommended." —R. T. Ingoglia, Choice
"Much of the historiography on the PCI has adopted either a national perspective or a comparative analysis.... Silvio Pons... offers a different view in his new book.... [Pons] brings to bear a transnational view on the PCI's voluminous archives." —Joe Piccini, Twentieth Century Communism
"Through its analytical richness and accessible style, The Rise and Fall of the Italian Communist Party: A Transnational History stands as a landmark contribution to the historiography of Italian communism and to the global history of the twentieth century." —Giovannipaolo Ferrari, Europe-Asia Studies
PART 1 Genealogies: Internationalism and Cosmopolitanism, 1917
1. Revolution and Hegemony
2. Stalinism and Antifascism
PART 2 Influences: Internationalism and the Nation, 1943
3. The "New Party" and the Cold War
4. Polycentrism and Decolonization
PART 3 Transformations: The Twilight of Internationalism, 1964
5. Humanistic Socialism and the "Long 1968
6. Europeanisms and Globalisms
Epilogue: The Dream of a New World Order
Notes
Index