Antony Shugaar

A fresh perspective on the early mafia as a means of resistance against invasion, this gripping history illustrates the previously unknown extent of these families' power in the 14th century. 1343: there is famine in Naples. After nightfall, a Genoese ship loaded with wheat is attacked by members of two local clans who brutally kill several sailors and their captain. The attackers returned to the city, greeted by the cheers of their countrymen, and the blind eye of the authorities. The Republic of Genoa presented the Kingdom of Naples with a formal protest against the incident. But, in a historical document of great importance today, King Charles I of Anjou admitted he did not control his own city, that the true rulers of Naples were the "family." The purpose of this book is not to retrace the birth of the Camorra through the traditional roads of ethnology, anthropology, sociology, or even folklore for the umpteenth time. Amedeo Feniello takes a new route through a number of previously unstudied elements and makes a unique observation: that these "families" of Naples were in power at the time of the birth of the Angevin Kingdom of Naples--one of the first European nation states. They would have been leaders of the new state, actively participating in the business of the royal family and serving as a new class of directors, officers, and bureaucrats.

After losing the future he imagined for himself, a writer sets out in search of connection and purpose at a tipping point with climate change and global conflict, in this breathtaking novel from the Strega Prize-winning author of The Solitude of Prime Numbers. In late 2015, Paolo feels his life coming apart: While his wife, Lorenza, has decided to give up on pregnancy after years of trying, he clings to the dream of becoming a father, not just a father figure to Lorenza's son. As their marriage strains, Paolo immerses himself in work, traveling to Paris to report on the UN Climate Change Conference in the wake of terrorist attacks that shook the world. His journalism dovetails with a book he hopes to write on the atomic bomb and its survivors, a growing obsession that will take him to cities across Europe and ultimately Japan. Along the way, Paolo interacts with a vibrant cast of characters, each struggling to find their own Tasmania, a safe haven in which to weather the coming crises--global warming, pandemics, authoritarian governments, and wars. He develops a friendship with a brilliant, opinionated physicist, who followed the scientific path Paolo had abandoned, and who will test Paolo's loyalty and values. A stunning return to fiction after How Contagion Works, Paolo Giordano's semi-autobiographical novel captures the fear, anxiety, wonder, and beauty of this time of uncertainty and upheaval, exploring how we can create and maintain relationships with other people when it feels increasingly difficult to connect.

From the Strega Prize-winning author of Story of My People, an astute, multifaceted essay on the seismic shifts of 2020 and how he and people from all walks of life are adapting. Attempting to make sense of the incredible upheaval of 2020--from the devastating impact of COVID-19 to the sudden loss of his father--Edoardo Nesi considers the changing global economy and its effect on our lives. He shares the stories of Alberto Magelli, a small textile entrepreneur; Livia Firth, a prominent advocate for sustainability; Elisa Martelli, a young Sangiovese winemaker; Enrico Giovannini, a leading economist and statistician; Rino Pratesi, a proud butcher from the heart of Tuscany; and more. From the overworked to the unemployed, we're all grappling with difficult questions about our current disorienting world: Will we ever feel healthy again, and what will it take to regain "normality?" What does progress mean today? Have science and technology let us down? What will the increased prevalence of remote working mean for our cities, and for our lifestyles generally? Deftly weaving together the personal and the economic, Nesi takes us on a fascinating journey to understanding.

From internationally bestselling author Sandrone Dazieri and featuring "two of the most intriguing detectives to have emerged in recent years" (Daily Mail, London) comes the "explosive" (Booklist, starred review) second thriller in the Caselli and Torre series. In Rome, a passenger train speeds into the city's main station, its first-class car full of dead bodies, the macabre discovery of which falls to Deputy Police Commissioner Colomba Caselli. The police then receive a claim of responsibility and the threat of more murders to come. But neither Caselli nor her eccentrically brilliant ally, Dante Torre, are ready to buy the terrorist link. As the two unconventional investigators chip away at what the perpetrator wants everyone to believe, they put their own lives in jeopardy. But Dante's bizarre and traumatic past enables him to see what others miss, and in this case, to connect with a kindred spirit of sorts, a woman named Giltine who also experienced an intense trauma--one from which she emerged damaged and full of murderous intent. Making her especially lethal is that the rare mental illness she suffers from has her believing she's already dead. When Colomba and Dante find themselves on the outs with law enforcement they're entirely on their own, faced with the responsibility of making sure the waters of Venice don't turn red with blood.

An "electrifying...page-turning thriller" (New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver) about two people, each shattered by their past, who team up to solve a series of killings and abductions that turn out to be just the visible surface of something far more sinister. When a woman is beheaded in a park outside Rome and her six-year-old son goes missing, the police unit assigned to the case sees an easy solution: they arrest the woman's husband and await his confession. But the chief of Rome's major crimes unit doubts things are so simple. He hires two of Italy's top analytical minds to solve the mystery: Deputy Captain Colomba Caselli, a fierce, warrior-like detective still reeling from having survived a bloody catastrophe, and Dante Torre, a man who spent his childhood trapped inside a concrete silo. Fed by the gloved hand of a masked kidnapper who called himself "the Father," Dante emerged from his ordeal with crippling claustrophobia but, also, with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and hyper-observant capacities. All evidence suggests that the Father is back and active after being dormant for decades. Indeed, he has left telltale signs that signal he's looking forward to a reunion with Dante. But when Colomba and Dante begin following the ever-more-bizarre trail of clues, they grasp that what's really going on is darker than they ever imagined. Kill the Father is "outstanding...an unrelenting, adrenaline-fueled novel, with a final twist serving as a setup for a sequel. Don't be surprised if Kill the Father becomes the next Big Thing in international crime fiction" (Booklist, starred review).