This book covers a crucial period of Italian history, that of the “Risorgimento” (the Resurgence period of Italian Independence) and the years following the unification, seen from an unusual perspective by Pierluigi Bassignani and Alba Zanini. The connecting thread is represented by the inventions and discoveries, incredibly numerous and surprising, and for the most part attributable to Turin and Piedmont, which contributed in a fundamental way towards the growth and consolidation of the emerging Kingdom of Italy. The decision in September 1864 to relocate the Capital of Italy from Turin to Florence was a severe blow to Turin, engendering a profound crisis of identity and in the economy. It was only through a series of bold and well-aimed initiatives promoted by an enterprising City Council that this adverse trend was reversed. In fact on the 25th of October 1865, the Council launched an “Appeal to Italian and Foreign Industrialists” in which it promised to favour industrial development by lowering taxes and supplying energy at reduced costs. As anticipated, there was considerable response to the appeal, much of it from abroad, and in a relatively short space of time the city was on the road to recovery. This transformation of Turin was the direct result of a collaborative effort by politicians, businessmen, academics and inventors. By means of mainly unpublished documents and illustrations of scientific instruments and machinery of the period, it has been possible to identify the key elements which, in the space of only a few years, saw Piedmont become one of the most industrialized areas in Europe by the beginning of the 20th century, initiating the transformation of Italy into a modern nation.

This is the Italian language edition.