A Great and Terrible World

The Pre-Prison Letters, 1908-1926

by Antonio Gramsci Edited by Derek Boothman

ISBN: 9781608463930

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Description

A collection of letters is also essentially a biography here of a man recognized as one of the twentieth century’s leading thinkers. By translating and presenting for the first time many letters previously overlooked by other volumes, this collection greatly expands what the English-speaking world knows of him, both politically and personally. These extracts from his pre-prison correspondencewith his wife and her sister, international communist leaders, and fellow Italian revolutionariesshow his most important ideas at their beginnings, and give a well rounded picture of Gramsci’s political, intellectual, and emotional development.

Antonio Gramsci (18911937) was a founding member of the Italian Communist Party, and among the twentieth century's most influential theorists.

Author Bios

Antonio Gramsci was a founding member of the Italian Communist Party, and spent most of his adult life imprisoned by Mussolini. After his death and the subsequent publication of his Prison Notebooks he came to be known as one of the twentieth century’s foremost cultural critics.

Derek Boothman lectures at the University of Perugia and is a lifelong scholar of Gramsci.

More Info

ISBN: 9781608463930

Publication date: December 9, 2014

Table of Contents

School and home in Sardinia
University student in Turin
Revolutionary Journalist: L’Avanti! and L’Ordine Nuovo
Comintern leader in Moscow
Vienna: towards the new PCI leadership
Rome I: Political upheaval, family matters
Rome II: The last months of freedom

Note on the translation
Note on main characters

Reviews

“This collection of Gramsci's early correspondence provides new insight into his life and work. Through these letters, we follow the development of Gramsci's own thought and his involvement with the international communist movement. This book will prove an indispensable resource, not only to Gramsci scholars, but to anyone interested in the history of the left more widely.”
—Mark Fisher, author of Capitalist Realism and Ghosts Of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures

“This is a meticulous translation of a selection of Gramsci's pre-prison letters with an extensive introduction that places them in their historical context. These letters furnish fascinating new insights into both his personal and political life. Gramsci the man and Gramsci the politician emerge in new depth and detail. The volume is an invaluable asset to anyone interested in better understanding his ideas and his humanity.”
—Professor Anne Showstack Sassoon, author of Gramsci and Contemporary Politics
This collection of Gramsci's early correspondence provides new insight into his life and work. Through these letters, we follow the development of Gramsci's own thought and his involvement with the international communist movement. This book will prove an indispensable resource, not only to Gramsci scholars, but to anyone interested in the history of the left more widely.”
Mark Fisher, author of Capitalist Realism and Ghosts Of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures

This is a meticulous translation of a selection of Gramsci's pre-prison letters with an extensive introduction that places them in their historical context. These letters furnish fascinating new insights into both his personal and political life. Gramsci the man and Gramsci the politician emerge in new depth and detail. The volume is an invaluable asset to anyone interested in better understanding his ideas and his humanity.”
Professor Anne Showstack Sassoon, author of Gramsci and Contemporary Politics

Other books by the authors

Selections from Cultural Writings

by Antonio Gramsci

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