Chronology of events; Introducing modern Italian culture Zygmunt G. Baranski; 1. The notion of Italy John Dickie; 2. Social and political cultures in Italy 1860 to the present day Anna Cento Bull; 3. Questions of language Brian Richardson; 4. Intellectuals, culture and power in modern Italy David Ward; 5. Catholicism Percy Allum; 6. Socialism, Communism and other 'isms' Robert S. Dombroski; 7. Other voices: contesting the status quo Sharon Wood and Joseph Farrell; 8. Narratives of self and society Gian-Paolo Biasin; 9. Searching for new languages: modern Italian poetry Shirley W. Vinall and Tom O'Neill; 10. Drama: realism, identity and reality on stage Anna Laura Lepschy; 11. Italian cinema Peter Bondanella; 12. Art in modern Italy: from the Macchiaioli to the Transvanguardia Eugenia Paulicelli; 13. A modern identity for a new nation: design in Italy after 1860 Penny Sparke: Fashion: narration and nation Eugenia Paulicelli; 14. The media Christopher Wagstaff; 15. Since Verdi: Italian music 1860-1995 John C. G. Waterhouse; 16. Folk music and popular song from the nineteenth century to the 1990s Alessandro Carrera; Epilogue: Italian culture or multiculture in the new millennium Rebecca West; Index.