An History of Anarchism In Italy (1848-1984)

preface by Claudio Venza

Antonio Senta sketches an original history of Italian anarchism from 1848 to 1984. The author weaves into the big canvas of national and European history  the minute lives of the men and women who gave living substance to anarchism's unique mixture of freedom and equality. His compact and compelling narrative draws the reader directly into the midst of the turbulent flow of events that have characterized, influenced and often changed the course of Italian history. Utopia In Action narrates the collective history of the numerous unknown activists that have been the flesh and blood of the Italian anarchist movement. It is the history of the political ideals and passions that lead generations of anarchists into action. This book is the history of a non-dogmatic and open-ended ideal whose practice transcends the merely political  and reaches into the ethical and social domains of historical existence.

Antonio Senta (Fiesole, 1980) is an activist and a researcher at Università of Trieste and a member of the scientific committee of the Archivio Famiglia Berneri-Chessa. He has written extensively on the history of the Italian and international anarchist movement. He is also the author of A testa alta! Ugo Fedeli e l'anarchismo internazionale (2012).