Italy
Mafia-Fighting in Italy
Since the old Italian political order shattered in 1992, prosecutors have scored major gains against the Mafia. Salvatore (Toto) Riina, the Mafia’s reputed “boss of bosses,” is now serving nine life sentences. From 1992 to 1994, Italy’s homicide rate fell more than 40 percent. The investigative trail has pointed toward top politicians accused of protecting…
Continue readingThe Last Pill He’ll Ever Take
PROCEDURA By Salvatore Mannuzzu. Translated by John Shepley. 227 pp. New York: Villard Books. $20. ONE morning, in the cafe of a Sardinian courthouse, Judge Valerio Garau drops dead after swallowing a pill while bantering with his mistress — herself a judge and the wife of another. Given the web of personal and professional relations…
Continue readingArt Thieves Bleed Italy’s Heritage
A new sack of Rome is under way. And while today’s vandals do not rape and pillage, they may be more systematic about picking clean Italy’s art treasures. The country with the highest concentration of art in the world is losing the equivalent of a museum a year, not even counting the objects that disappear…
Continue readingItaly, Land of Art Treasures Just Out of Visitors’ View
Several times this summer, the usual throng of Japanese, German and American tourists has made the pilgrimage from Rome to Tivoli to see the villa of the Roman emperor Hadrian only to be turned away by a sign saying: “Closed for lack of personnel.” Although there are 43 guards assigned to the villa, the staff…
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