Synopses & Reviews
How and why has the city of Florence, one of the great treasure houses of western civilization, been reduced to little more than a Renaissance Disneyland for tourists? Florence, once a center of national intellectual creativity, has become a city with two separate lives. Its historic center caters to and profits from tourists, while the periphery houses a population that endures overcrowding, decaying infrastructure, and an exorbitant cost of living. In
Politics in a Museum, James Miller investigates Florence's losing struggle with modern times.
He traces the city's story from its bloody liberation in 1944 through a reconstruction led by Communist and Catholic saints, the flood of 1966, the booms and busts of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. In the process, Miller provides an analysis of the defects of Italy's national political system, as well as a meticulous reconstruction of the men and events that have placed Florence alongside Venice in the unenviable status of museum city.
Synopsis
How the city of Florence, one of the great treasure houses of western civilization, has been reduced to a crowded Renaissance Disneyland for tourists.
Synopsis
The "city of the Renaissance," modern Florence is in the center of an intense political and cultural war over the future of Italy's ancient cities. James Miller's Politics in a Museum chronicles the complexities of postwar efforts to achieve economic prosperity in a unique treasure house of European culture. For more than a half a century, the city's elites have struggled over what sort of city Florence should be while individual Florentines--and tourists--have taken a heavy toll on its ancient splendor. Miller traces the city's story from its bloody liberation in 1944 through a reconstruction led by Communist and Catholic "saints," the flood of 1966, the booms and busts of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. This is a book for anyone concerned about the preservation of one of the finest expressions of our Western cultural heritage.
About the Author
JAMES EDWARD MILLER is a scholar with the European Studies Program of the Foreign Service Institute.