Benevolence and Betrayal - Five Italian Jewish Families under Fascism - Alexander Stille
Benevolence and Betrayal: Five Italian Jewish Families under Fascism
A Deeply Moving and Paradoxical Narrative of Survival, Loyalty, and Persecution under Mussolini's Regime
A Deeply Moving and Paradoxical Narrative of Survival, Loyalty, and Persecution under Mussolini's Regime
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Benevolence and Betrayal: Five Italian Jewish Families under Fascism
- Author: Alexander Stille
- Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd, London
- Publication Date: 12 March 1992 (First UK Edition; registered copyright 1991)
- ISBN-10: 0224033018
- ISBN-13: 9780224033015
- Edition Details: First British Edition, First Printing. Standard Hardcover Release.
- Binding: Original publisher’s premium cloth boards, spine lettered in gilt, housed in the original illustrated dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), 368 pages. Enhanced with photographic plates and archival family documents.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
- Exterior / Cloth Boards: The structural cloth binding is exceptionally rigid, flat, and sharp-cornered. The spine is completely unbroken, robust, and square with beautifully preserved, unrubbed gilt lettering.
- Interior: The text block is tight, clean, and perfectly intact. Internal pages and central photographic inserts are bright white, crisp, and immaculate. Entirely free of previous ownership stamps, gift inscriptions, dealer pencil markings, or folded corners.
- Preservation: Beautifully protected and presented in an archival-grade, removable cellophane cover to safeguard the pristine cloth architecture.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good Plus (VG+)
- Condition: A highly collectable, crisp original jacket showing only the most minor, microscopic traces of shelf-wear along the upper edges. It is completely unclipped, rich in colour saturation, and entirely free from sun-fading, tears, or adhesive tape repairs.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Winner of the prestigious Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History, Benevolence and Betrayal is a profoundly moving, masterfully woven account of Italy’s Jewish community navigating the dark shadow of Benito Mussolini’s fascist state and the subsequent horror of the Holocaust.
Winner of the prestigious Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History, Benevolence and Betrayal is a profoundly moving, masterfully woven account of Italy’s Jewish community navigating the dark shadow of Benito Mussolini’s fascist state and the subsequent horror of the Holocaust.
Alexander Stille masterfully shifts away from sweeping generalizations to construct an extraordinary montage of five real Italian Jewish families, meticulously resurrected through extensive personal interviews, letters, and state archives. The narrative uncovers a deeply paradoxical landscape where assimilation met catastrophic betrayal: the Ovazzas of Turin, fiercely loyal fascists whose patriarch met with Mussolini before being executed by the SS; the Foas of Turin, tragically fractured between a prominent anti-fascist underground activist and an ardent Fascist Party loyalist; the Di Verolis of Rome, peddlers clinging to ancestral survival within a ancient ghetto upended by German occupation; the Teglios of Genoa, who integrated seamlessly with the Catholic Church underground to rescue hundreds of refugees; and the Schönheits of Ferrara, who survived the horrific deportations to Buchenwald and Ravensbrück. This highly collectable Jonathan Cape first printing stands as a crucial, harrowing cornerstone text for any serious collection focusing on the Holocaust, European totalitarianism, and the intricate social history of modern European Jewry.
Author Profile: Alexander Stille
Alexander Stille is a highly distinguished American author, social historian, and journalist specializing in modern Italian politics and culture. A graduate of Yale University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he currently serves as the San Paolo Professor of International Journalism, Stille spent years reporting from Italy for The Boston Globe and U.S. News & World Report. Celebrated for his exceptional capacity to balance rigorous archival documentation with immersive narrative pace, his landmark debut Benevolence and Betrayal was hailed by the Times Literary Supplement as one of the best books of its release year, establishing him as a premier voice in modern historical reportage.
Alexander Stille is a highly distinguished American author, social historian, and journalist specializing in modern Italian politics and culture. A graduate of Yale University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he currently serves as the San Paolo Professor of International Journalism, Stille spent years reporting from Italy for The Boston Globe and U.S. News & World Report. Celebrated for his exceptional capacity to balance rigorous archival documentation with immersive narrative pace, his landmark debut Benevolence and Betrayal was hailed by the Times Literary Supplement as one of the best books of its release year, establishing him as a premier voice in modern historical reportage.
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