author
Luigi Villari
1876–1959
An Italian historian, diplomat, and travel writer, he spent much of his life explaining international affairs to English-speaking readers. His books draw on firsthand experience in Russia, the Balkans, and the Near East, giving them the feel of lived history rather than distant commentary.
2 Audiobooks
The Republic of Ragusa: An Episode of the Turkish Conquest
by Luigi Villari
The Macedonian campaign
by Luigi Villari
About the author
Born in 1876, he was the son of historian and politician Pasquale Villari and writer-translator Linda White Mazini Villari. He worked in the Italian Foreign Office and also served as Italy’s vice-consul in New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Boston in the years before the First World War.
Alongside his diplomatic work, he built a career as a historian, journalist, and traveler. He wrote in English as well as Italian, and his subjects ranged widely across Russia, the Caucasus, the Balkans, and Italian foreign policy. That mix of scholarship, reporting, and personal observation helped make his books lively and accessible.
He devoted much of his life to international questions, especially the relationship between Italy and the English-speaking world. For listeners interested in history seen from the edge of events, his work offers a thoughtful contemporary voice from a turbulent era.