My Italians: True Stories of Crime and Courage

Description

A revealing portrait of contemporary Italy from the international bestselling author of Gomorrah Based on Saviano's TV series 'Vieni via con me', which achieved record-breaking audience numbers, this is a portrait of Italy in nine stories. A deeply personal exploration of what it means to be Italian today, Saviano examines some of the old and new wounds that afflict the country and the people's enduring hope of a better future. The truth he reveals about deep national disunity, illegal dumping of toxic waste on fertile farmland and the expansion of the Calabrian mafia in the north is appalling, yet there are those who live their lives with honesty and courage. The priest who defies the mafia by setting up a home for disabled children in their sequestered property, or the Sicilian judge who fought tirelessly to bring mafia bosses to justice, show the strength and resilience that underpins the nation.

Roberto Saviano is an Italian journalist and the author of several books includung Zero Zero Zero and the international bestseller Gomorrah, which has sold over ten million copies in fifty languages worldwide. He has been living under police protection since October 2006, following threats received from the criminal organizations that he denounced. In November 2008 Saviano was invited by the Nobel Committee in Stockholm to give a lecture on 'Freedom of Speech and Lawless Violence'.

A symbol of the writer as crusader; brave, unyielding, shining a light into some of the world's darkest corners. -- Josh Glancy * The Times * After reading Saviano, it becomes impossible to see Italy, and the global market, in the same way again. * The New York Times * Saviano is a blazingly vivid and courageous writer. * Independent * A national hero. -- Umberto Eco Brave and passionate. * Guardian *