5 May

The Expedition of the Thousand

Garibaldi's Spedizione dei Mille launched from Genoa

The Expedition of the Thousand, the military campaign to unite Italy led by the soldier and revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi, was launched on this day in 1860.  The campaign, in some ways the climax of the Risorgimento movement, began in response to an uprising in Sicily, when Garibaldi set sail from Genoa, with a makeshift army of volunteers, hoping his support would enable the rebels to overthrow the Bourbon rulers of the island.  The greater purpose, though, was to achieve another step towards his ultimate goal, which he shared with his fellow nationalist revolutionary, Giuseppe Mazzini, and which was supported by King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia-Piedmont and his prime minister, Camillo Benso di Cavour, that of creating a united Italy.  The revolutionary leader in Sicily, Francesco Crispi, had all but guaranteed that substantial numbers of Sicilians would fight on the side of Garibaldi’s troops. Read more…

______________________________________

Giovanni Gaeta - composer and songwriter

Post Office worker whose songs became famous

The poet, composer and lyricist Giovanni Gaeta, whose classic Neapolitan songs brought him fame under his pseudonym E A Mario, was born on this day in 1884 in Naples.  Gaeta’s compositions as E A Mario, such as Santa Lucia luntana and Balocchi e profumi, were performed by some of the world’s greatest voices, from Enrico Caruso to Luciano Pavarotti, and became staples in the repertoire of Neapolitan song specialists such as Peppino di Capri, Mario Abbate and Bruno Venturini.  He was also responsible for La canzone del Piave - the Song of the Piave - which he wrote to commemorate the bravery of Italian soldiers in repelling an attempt by the Austrian imperial army to inflict a decisive victory on the Piave front in northeast Italy in 1918, a show of resistance that hastened the end of the First World War.  Read more…

______________________________________

Mudslides in Campania

Towns and villages destroyed in natural disaster

A series of mudslides brought devastation in Campania on this day in 1988, destroying or badly damaging more than 600 homes and killing 161 people. Almost 2,000 people were left with nowhere to live.  The mudslides were set off by several days of torrential rain and blamed on the increasingly unstable landscape caused by the deforestation and unregulated construction of roads and buildings.  Torrents of mud coursed down mountainsides in several areas between Avellino and Salerno to the east of Naples.  The town of Sarno bore the brunt of the damage but the villages of Quindici, Siano and Bracigliano were also badly hit.  The accumulation of large quantities of volcanic ash deposited by historic eruptions of the nearby Mount Vesuvius is thought to have made the mudslides particularly fast moving and the affected communities were quickly overwhelmed. Read more…

Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola – condottiero

Adventurous soldier lived on in literature

The soldier of fortune, Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola, who has been featured in poetry, books and an opera, was executed on this day in 1432 in Venice.  The military leader had been seized, imprisoned and brought to trial for treason against La Serenissima, the Most Serene Republic of Venice, and was beheaded between the columns of San Marco and San Todaro at the entrance to the Piazzetta.  Francesco Bussone had been born at Carmagnola near Turin into a peasant family. He began his military career at the age of 12, serving under the condottiero, Facino Cane, who was in the service of the Marquess of Monferrat at the time, but later fought for Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan.  After the death of Gian Galeazzo, the duchy was divided up, but his son Filippo Maria was determined to reconquer it by force. Read more…

______________________________________

Montagna Longa air disaster

Italy’s deadliest plane crash

Italy was in shock on this day in 1972 after an Alitalia Douglas DC-8 en route from Rome to Palermo crashed into a mountainside on its approach to the Sicilian airport.  Alitalia Flight 112, which was carrying 115 passengers and crew, was 5km (3 miles) from touching down at Palermo International Airport at around 10.24pm when it struck a 935m (1,980ft) crest of Montagna Longa, part of the Monti di Palermo range.  The aircraft slid along the ground for some distance but broke up after striking rocks, spreading burning kerosene over a wide area. Witnesses described seeing the aircraft on fire before it crashed.  The crash remains Italy’s deadliest accident involving a single aeroplane. Only the 2001 disaster at Milan’s second airport, Linate, when an airliner and a business jet collided on the ground, killing 114 passengers plus four people on the ground, claimed more casualties.  Read more…

_______________________________________

Book of the Day:  Garibaldi: Invention of a Hero, by Lucy Riall

Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian revolutionary leader and popular hero, was among the best-known figures of the 19th century. This book seeks to examine his life and the making of his cult, to assess its impact, and understand its surprising success. For 30 years Garibaldi was involved in every combative event in Italy. His greatest moment came in 1860, when he defended a revolution in Sicily and provoked the collapse of the Bourbon monarchy, the overthrow of papal power in central Italy, and the creation of the Italian nation state. It made him a global icon, representing strength, bravery, manliness, saintliness, and a spirit of adventure. Handsome, flamboyant, and sexually attractive, he was worshipped in life and became a cult figure after his death in 1882. Lucy Riall shows that the emerging cult of Garibaldi was initially conceived by revolutionaries intent on overthrowing the status quo, that it was also the result of a collaborative effort involving writers, artists, actors, and publishers, and that it became genuinely and enduringly popular among a broad public. Garibaldi: Invention of a Hero demonstrates that Garibaldi played an integral part in fashioning and promoting himself as a new kind of “charismatic” political hero. It analyses the way the Garibaldi myth has been harnessed both to legitimise and to challenge national political structures. And it identifies elements of Garibaldi’s political style appropriated by political leaders around the world, including Mussolini and Che Guevara.

Lucy Riall is an Irish historian. She was a professor of history at Birkbeck, University of London, and is currently a professor in the Department of History and Civilisation at the European University Institute in Florence. Her publications include The Italian Risorgimento: State, Society and National Unification and Sicily and the Unification of Italy: Liberal Policy and Local Power (1859-66).

Buy from Amazon

Home

4 May

NEW - Enrico Caviglia - military general

Capable commander played key role in decisive WW1 victory

The military general Enrico Caviglia, who rose to the rank of Marshal of Italy after his innovative tactics on the World War One battlefield helped defeat the Austro-Hungarians at Vittorio Veneto in 1918, was born on this day in 1862 in Finale Ligure, a resort on the Italian Riviera.  In addition to his role in Italy’s successes in WW1, which included orchestrating a key victory in the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo and important damage limitation after the disastrous Battle of Caporetto, Caviglia also distinguished himself in colonial campaigns and in the Italo‑Turkish War. He developed a reputation for humane, adaptive leadership, operational flexibility and a refusal to waste lives.  He was scornful of the conduct of other generals, in particular Luigi Cadorna, who was eventually removed as chief of staff following the heavy Italian defeat at Caporetto.  Read more…

________________________________________

Anthony Martin Sinatra - father of Frank

Sicilian who became a professional boxer in New York

Saverio Antonino Martino Sinatra, who at various times was a fireman, a professional boxer and the owner of a bar, was born on this day in 1894 in Lercara Friddi, a mining town in Sicily, about 70km (44 miles) south-east of the island’s capital, Palermo.  Usually known as Antonino, after emigrating to the United States he married Natalie Garaventa, a girl from near Genoa who lived in his neighbourhood in New York City.  They set up home in New Jersey and had a son, whom they christened Francis Albert, who would grow up to be better known as Frank Sinatra, one of the most popular entertainers of all time.  Lercara Friddi today is a town of between 7,000 and 8,000 inhabitants, which at the time of Antonino’s birth was an important centre for the mining of sulphur.  His father, Francesco, worked there as a shoemaker and married Rosa Saglimini. Read more…

_______________________________________

Osbert Sitwell – English writer

Baronet’s love for a Tuscan castle

Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell died on this day in 1969 at the Castello di Montegufoni near Florence in Tuscany.  Like his famous elder sister, Edith Sitwell, who was a poet, and his younger brother, Sacheverell, an art and music critic and writer, Osbert devoted his life to art and literature.  His father, Sir George Reresby Sitwell, had purchased the Castle of Montegufoni, 20 km from Florence, in 1909 when it was derelict and restored it beautifully to become his personal residence.  Osbert inherited the castle after his father’s death in 1943 along with the baronetcy and he reigned over Montegufoni for the rest of his life.  Osbert was born in 1892 and grew up at the family homes in Derbyshire and Scarborough. In 1911 he joined the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry but soon transferred to the Grenadier Guards and was based at the Tower of London, enabling him to go to the theatre and art galleries when he was off duty.  Read more…

Bartolomeo Cristofori - inventor of the piano

Instrument maker adapted harpsichord to play soft and loud notes

Bartolomeo Cristofori, the man widely credited with inventing the piano, was born on this day in 1655 in Padua.  He came up with the idea while working for the Grand Prince Ferdinando de' Medici in Florence, who had hired him to look after his collection of harpsichords and other instruments. It is thought that Cristofori, who was assumed to have been an established maker of musical instruments when Ferdinando invited him to Florence in around 1690, wanted to create a keyboard instrument similar to a harpsichord but capable of playing notes of varying loudness.  An inventory of Medici instruments from 1700 described an "arpi cimbalo", which resembled a harpsichord but which created sounds through hammers and dampers rather than the plucking mechanism employed by the harpsichord. Read more…

_______________________________________

Marella Agnelli - noblewoman and socialite

Married for 50 years to Fiat patriarch Gianni Agnelli

Donna Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto, the noblewoman from an old Neapolitan family who married the jet-setting chairman of car giants Fiat, Gianni Agnelli, was born on this day in 1927 in Florence.  Simply known as Marella Agnelli, she was propelled by marriage into a world in which she became a socialite and style icon, devoting her life to collecting art, decorating the numerous homes she and her husband kept, and attending and hosting lavish, exclusive parties.  The couple would eventually have homes in Rome, Paris, New York,  Corsica and Saint-Moritz, as well as several houses in and around Agnelli’s home city of Turin, including the Agnelli estate in the foothills of the Italian Alps.  As a member of the House of Caracciolo, she was regarded as high Italian nobility. Read more…

_______________________________________

Book of the Day:  The Italian Army and the First World War (Armies of the Great War), by John Gooch

The Italian Army and the First World War examines the role and performance of the Italian army during the First World War. Drawing from original, archival research, it tells the story of the army's bitter three-year struggle in the mountains of Northern Italy, including the eleven bloody battles of the Isonzo, the near-catastrophic defeat at Caporetto in 1917 and the successful, but still controversial defeat of the Austro-Hungarian army at Vittorio Veneto on the eve of the Armistice. Setting military events within a broader context, the book explores pre-war Italian military culture and the interactions between domestic politics, economics and society. In a unique study of an unjustly neglected facet of the war, John Gooch illustrates how General Luigi Cadorna, a brutal disciplinarian, drove the army to the edge of collapse, and how his successor, general Armando Diaz, rebuilt it and led the Italians to their greatest victory in modern times.

John Gooch is one of the world's leading writers on Italy and the two world wars. His books include Mussolini and His Generals and The Italian Army and the First World War. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Leeds.

Buy from Amazon

Home

Enrico Caviglia - military general

Capable commander played key role in decisive WW1 victory

Caviglia was a brilliant battlefield
tactician known for humane leadership

The military general Enrico Caviglia, who rose to the rank of Marshal of Italy after his innovative tactics on the World War One battlefield helped defeat the Austro-Hungarians at Vittorio Veneto in 1918, was born on this day in 1862 in Finale Ligure, a resort on the Italian Riviera.

In addition to his role in Italy’s successes in WW1, which included orchestrating a key victory in the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo and important damage limitation after the disastrous Battle of Caporetto, Caviglia also distinguished himself in colonial campaigns and in the Italo‑Turkish War.

He developed a reputation for humane, adaptive leadership, operational flexibility and a refusal to waste lives.  He was scornful of the conduct of other generals, in particular Luigi Cadorna, who was eventually removed as chief of staff following the heavy Italian defeat at Caporetto. He accused Cadorna in an earlier battle of forcing him to commit his men to an ill-advised attack that cost the lives of 6,500 soldiers.

By contrast with generals who followed traditional battlefield tactics, Caviglia favoured coordinated, intelligence‑driven assaults rather than frontal attrition, which he felt resulted in unnecessary casualties. His methods contributed to breakthroughs on the Isonzo and culminated in the 1918 victory at Vittorio Veneto, which effectively ended the war on the Italian front.

Caviglia also had the political dexterity to remain onside with Benito Mussolini during the interwar years and the build-up to World War Two, despite being opposed to the Fascists.

Born into a family rooted in the maritime community in Liguria, Caviglia set his sights on a career in the Kingdom of Italy's armed forces. He attended the Teulié Military School in Milan in 1877, transferring to the Royal Military Academy in Turin in 1880. He served in Eritrea  and later as a military attaché in Tokyo and Beijing, observing the Russo-Japanese War.

In 1912 he was a key figure in organising the evacuation of Turkish troops and the pacification of Arabs and Berbers at the end of the Italo-Turkish war.

Caviglia's tactics were the key to 
Italy's victory at Vittorio Veneto

When Italy entered World War I in May, 1915, Caviglia was deployed to the front lines as the Italian Royal Army readied itself to fight against Austria-Hungary. In the summer of 1915, he took command of the Bari Infantry Brigade, leading it into the battles of Bosco Lancia and Bosco Cappuccio on the Italian front.

The tactical acumen he displayed paved the way for the Isonzo and Trentino campaigns. His promotion to temporary lieutenant general in August, 1916 reflected his exceptional battlefield performance, in particular on the Isonzo front, where he blocked Austrian advances from Trentino and defended positions on the Asiago plateau.

In June 1917,  Caviglia assumed leadership of the XXIV Corps. Under his command, a key victory in the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo was secured with the crossing of the Soča River and subsequent advance into the Bainsizza plateau.

During the subsequent Austrian counter-offensive and Italian retreat from Bainsizza in the autumn of 1917, preceding the Caporetto disaster, Caviglia made it his mission to organise orderly withdrawals and preserve combat units, keeping vital forces intact for later redeployment.

It was the Battle of Vittorio Veneto that defined Caviglia’s career. He commanded the Eighth Army, the main striking force in General Armando Diaz’s plan. Made up of 14 divisions, it formed the spearhead of the offensive aimed at breaking the line between the Austro‑Hungarian Fifth and Sixth Armies. This sector, centred on the Piave-Vittorio Veneto-Sacile axis, was the decisive point of the entire operation. 

Caviglia massed his divisions to deliver a single, deep penetration rather than a broad, shallow push. This allowed him to rupture the enemy line and force a general withdrawal. 

His right flank was protected by the Tenth Army (British and Italian divisions under Lord Cavan), while his left was supported by the Twelfth Army (French and Italian). This coordination ensured that once the Eighth Army broke through, the Austro‑Hungarian forces could not pivot or counter‑attack effectively.

Dino Grandi, who wanted
Caviglia to lead government

The breakthrough severed the link between the Austro‑Hungarian Fifth and Sixth Armies. Once divided, the enemy’s positions on the Asiago plateau and Monte Grappa became untenable, forcing a general collapse.

King George V of the United Kingdom was so impressed with Caviglia’s performance he made him a Commander of the Order of the Bath, which gave him the right to be addressed as Sir Enrico Caviglia. 

In the years after World War One, Caviglia further enhanced his reputation by ending the occupation of the city of Fiume - now Rijeka in Croatia - by the poet and military general Gabriele d’Annunzio, using force but in a measured way calculated to minimise casualties and prevent the conflict expanding into a broader national uprising and civil war.

Caviglia then effectively retired from the political scene, having announced that he could no longer support Fascism in the way it had evolved, despite which Mussolini awarded him the rank of Marshal of Italy in 1926. Four years later, Victor Emmanuel III invested him as Knight of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation.

After Mussolini was overthrown in 1943, Dino Grandi, the member of the Fascist Grand Council who drew up the motion calling for the dictator’s removal from power, named Marshal Caviglia as the most suitable person to be the new head of government.  Victor Emmanuel III instead entrusted the position to Marshal Pietro Badoglio.

Caviglia soon retired permanently to Finale Ligure, where he had a villa called Vittorio Veneto. He died in 1945, just weeks after the cessation of hostilities in World War Two.

Initially buried in the basilica of San Giovanni Battista in Finale Ligure Marina, his body was then transferred in 1952 to the tower of Capo San Donato, where his daughter is also buried, in the presence of Luigi Einaudi, President of the Republic.

An ancient gate in the historic
Finalborgo district

Travel tip:

Finale Ligure sits on the Riviera di Ponente in western Liguria, framed by limestone cliffs. It features broad grey‑sand beaches with a palm‑lined promenade and clear, calm water ideal for swimming.  The town is composed of three historic nuclei - Finalmarina, where Enrico Caviglia was born, Finalpia and Finalborgo. Finalmarina is the modern seafront district, full of cafés and beach clubs, while Finalpia offers a quieter, more traditional atmosphere.  Both are overshadowed by Finalborgo, recognised among the borghi più belli d’Italia. Enclosed by medieval walls, it features narrow lanes, stone palaces, and the Baroque Basilica of San Biagio.  Its gates and layout reflect its past as the fortified capital of the Marquisate of Finale, ruled by the Del Carretto family until the early 17th century. Beyond the beaches and historic streets, Finale Ligure is a major hub for outdoor sports, particularly mountain‑biking and climbing. The area is known for simple but delicious cuisine, prepared using the region’s famous extra‑virgin olive oil. Restaurants in the area highlight local cheeses and herbs.

Stay in Finale Ligure with Expedia

Pretty Piazza Flaminio is the main square of the
town of Serravalle, now part of Vittorio Veneto

Travel tip:

Vittorio Veneto is a picturesque town in the province of Treviso north of Venice. It was formed in 1866 by the merging of two towns - Ceneda, with Roman and ecclesiastical roots, and Serravalle, known for its medieval architecture and mercantile past. The name honours Vittorio Emanuele II, Italy’s first king, and the region of Veneto. The town became well known for its proximity to the decisive moment of Italy’s World War One campaign, the Battle of Vittorio Veneto in October-November 1918, when Italian forces under the command of General Armando Diaz defeated the Austro-Hungarian army. The victory is commemorated in museums and monuments throughout the town. The districts of Ceneda and Serravalle retain distinct identities, linked by the elegant Viale della Vittoria. Visitors are drawn to its cultural heritage, wine traditions, and proximity to Venice and the Dolomites. The 15th century buildings surrounding Serravalle’s Piazza Flaminio were used by the director Franco Zeffirelli to represent the city of Verona in his adaptation of Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, a film known for its authentic Italian Renaissance atmosphere.

Find hotels in Vittorio Veneto with Hotels.com

More reading:

Armando Diaz, the general who commanded the Battle of Vittorio Veneto

Dino Grandi, the Fascist politician who sparked the ousting of Mussolini

The Villa Giusti Armistice and the end of World War One in Italy

Also on this day:

1655: The birth of Bartolomeo Cristofori, inventor of the piano

1894: The birth of Anthony Martin Sinatra, father of Frank

1927: The birth of noblewoman and socialite Marella Agnelli

1969: The death in Tuscany of English writer Osbert Sitwell

Home

3 May

Francesco Algarotti - writer and art collector

Philosopher and polymath with a playboy lifestyle

The multi-talented writer, philosopher and art connoisseur Francesco Algarotti, one of the most prominent and colourful individuals in 18th century intellectual society, died on this day in 1764 in Pisa.  Algarotti, who wrote many essays and a number of books, was something of a polymath in his breadth of knowledge on a wide number of subjects, including architecture and music as well as art. He was also a charismatic figure who became friends with most of the leading authors of his day, including Voltaire, Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens and Pierre-Louis de Maupertuis.  His urbane manner and suave good looks, combined with his considerable intellect, led him to acquire admirers of both sexes. Indeed, at one time he is said to have found himself at the centre of a colourful bisexual love triangle involving John Hervey, the English peer and politician, and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the aristocratic travel writer. Read more…

________________________________________

Raffaele Riario – Cardinal

Patron of arts linked with murder conspiracies

Renaissance Cardinal Raffaele Riario was born Raffaele Sansoni Galeoti Riario on this day in 1461 in Savona.  A patron of the arts, he is remembered for inviting Michelangelo to Rome and commissioning Palazzo della Cancelleria to be built. He was also embroiled in murder conspiracies which nearly cost him his life.  Although Riario was born in poverty, his mother was a niece of Francesco della Rovere, who became Pope Sixtus IV in 1471.  As a relative of the Pope he was created a Cardinal in 1477 and was named administrator of several dioceses, which gave him a good income at the age of 16, while he was studying canon law at the University of Pisa.  On his way to Rome in 1478, Riario stopped off in Florence, where he became a witness to the Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici. The Pazzi family wanted to replace the Medici as rulers of Florence. Read more…

_______________________________________

Niccolò Machiavelli – writer and diplomat

Political scientist fathered belief that ‘the ends justify the means’ 

Statesman and diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli, whose name has become synonymous with the idea of political cunning, was born on this day in 1469 in Florence.  The ideas he put forward in his writing were to make the word ‘machiavellian’ a regularly used pejorative adjective and the phrase ‘Old Nick’ a term to denote the devil in English.  The son of an attorney, Machiavelli was educated in grammar, rhetoric and Latin. After Florence expelled the Medici family in 1494 he went to work for the new republic in the office that produced official Florentine documents.  Machiavelli also carried out diplomatic missions to Rome on behalf of the republic where he witnessed the brutality of Cesare Borgia and his father, Pope Alexander VI, as they tried to acquire large parts of central Italy.  He later became responsible for the Florentine militia.  Read more…

Battle of Tolentino

Murat is defeated but ignites desire for Risorgimento

Neapolitan troops were defeated by Austrian forces on this day in 1815 near Tolentino in what is now the Marche region of Italy.  It was the decisive battle in the Neapolitan War fought by the Napoleonic King of Naples, Joachim Murat, in a bid to keep the throne after the Congress of Vienna had ruled that the Bourbon Ferdinand IV, King of Sicily, should be restored.  The conflict was similar to the Battle of Waterloo, in that it occurred during the 100 days following Napoleon’s return from exile.  Murat had declared war on Austria in March 1815 after learning about Napoleon’s return to France and he advanced north with about 50,000 troops, establishing his headquarters at Ancona.  By the end of March, Murat’s army had arrived in Rimini, where he incited all Italian nationalists to go to war with him against the Austrians.  Read more…

________________________________________

Francesco Zucco – artist

Versatile painter decorated churches and produced acclaimed portraits

Francesco Zucco, who was a prolific painter in the Baroque style in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in northern Italy, died on this day in 1627 in Bergamo in Lombardy.  Zucco painted both secular and religious subjects after he had trained as an artist and learnt about technique from other Bergamo painters, such as Giovanni Paolo Cavagna and Enea Salmeggia. Art critics have compared the quality and style of his portrait painting with that of Veronese and Giovan Battista Moroni. The artist was born at some time between 1570 and 1575 in Bergamo. He is known to have studied art at the workshop of the Campi brothers in Cremona and afterwards returned to live in his native city, where he associated with other painters working in Bergamo at the time.  Even if he was never a pupil of the Bergamo portrait painter Giovan Battista Moroni, art experts believe Zucco must have studied the artist’s works closely. Read more…

_______________________________________

Gino Cervi - actor

Star best known for Don Camillo and Maigret

The actor Gino Cervi, a star of cinema and television screens in Italy for more than four decades as well as an accomplished stage performer, was born on this day in 1901 in Bologna.  Although his movie credits run to more than 120, he is probably best known for his portrayal of the Communist mayor Peppone in the Don Camillo films of the 1950s and ‘60s, and for playing Chief Inspector Maigret in the Italian TV series of the ‘60s and ‘70s based on the crime novels of Georges Simenon.  Cervi was the father of Italian film producer Tonino Cervi and the grandfather of actress Valentina Cervi.  Born Luigi Cervi in the historic Santo Stefano district of Bologna, Gino’s interest in acting had its roots in his journalist father Antonio’s appointment as theatre critic for Il Resto del Carlino, the city’s daily newspaper.  Read more…

______________________________________

Book of the Day: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment, by Isobel Grundy

This book is the first to look at Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's achievement as a vital figure in the women's literary tradition. Robert Halsband's book on her life, the sixth this century and published in 1956, was the first to apply scholarly techniques to establishing the facts. The inaccurate accounts given before Halsband testify to Lady Mary's compelling interest as a woman who wrote, travelled, campaigned publicly for medical advance, gossiped, and was involved in high-profile literary quarrels. Knowledge of her life has made considerable gains since Halsband, as understanding of the issues involved in trying to move between the roles of proper lady and woman writer has increased enormously. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment fruitfully exploits the tension between literary history and feminist reading. Isobel Grundy highlights Montagu's adolescent longing for literary fame, her growing understanding of the implications of this for gender and class imperatives, the frustrations and concessions involved in her collaborations with male writers, the punitive responses of society, the gaps at every stage of her life between her ascertainable circumstances and her construction of herself in letters and other writings. 

Isobel Grundy is a British-Canadian literary scholar, feminist author and educator known for her work on early women's writing, notably co-editing The Feminist Companion to Literature in English (1990). As a professor emeritus at the University of Alberta, she has contributed extensively to reclaiming neglected women's voices in 18th-century literature.

Buy from Amazon

Home