Breve Storia Della Città di Napoli


Author: Giuseppe Campolieti
Rating: 2/5

I found this book in box that was going to be put away, asked my mom about it and she said it was worth a try.

All in all is not a bad read, but my gripe with it is two faced.

First, the style is not appealing to me at all; phrases often digress to offer the author a chance to use a certain “poetic flair” that often clouds the understandability of what’s being said. More often than not, arguments are not presented clearly, or worse grossly simplified, to enable the use of effect phrases and poetic licenses that accomplish nothing in moving the arguments forward.

Second, the author has clearly sided with that “movement” that tends to exalt the glories once passed of the Spanish monarchy in Naples, against the Unionist movement of the Savoys. Most of the arguments of the final pages of the book are presented through this optic, that modern historiography has rejected.

The worst part is probably the beginning, the origin of the city and it’s first centuries are heavily fictionalized, with few and sporadic references to historical events. Alas, this was the bit that I was most looking forward to.

General and quirky trivial is abundant throughout the book, and I found it quite stimulating for reading forward, however it’s not enough to overlook the many shortcomings in narration and bias that the book presents.

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