The Risorgimento was a turbulent and decisive period in the history of Italy. Lucy Riall's engaging account is the first book of its kind on the upheavals of the years between 1815 and 1860, when a series of crises destabilised the states of Restoration Italy and led to the creation of a troubled nation state in 1860. Comprehensive, yet original, this textbook: * Examines the social history of nineteenth century Italy and the social context of political action * Offers a critical overview of the historiography of the topic * Takes account of the most recent literature, especially literature in Italian not normally accessible to students * Adopts a broad thematic approach * Places the Italian experience in a European context