L'Italia nel 1898 (Tumulti e reazione)

In the spring of 1898 Italy teeters on the brink, with soaring grain prices and crowded cities. In Milan, street protests erupt between May 6 and 9, as workers chant for bread and denounce taxes and military force. The episode reveals a nation still wrestling with the legacy of past revolutions while yearning for modern, democratic reforms. The unrest lays bare the clash between a growing socialist momentum and a conservative reaction determined to preserve order.

The author weaves together reports from the era’s leading newspapers—Corriere della Sera, Perseveranza, Il Mattino—and courtroom transcripts from General Bava Beccaris’ tribunals, offering a vivid, on‑the‑ground chronicle. By presenting both the official narrative and the voice of the demonstrators, the book invites listeners to reconsider the “honest reaction” that framed the events. Its careful, if hurried, scholarship aims not at sensationalism but at a clearer understanding of how Italy’s social fabric was tested in those turbulent days.