Description: On the Edge of Democracy is a detailed case study of the dual political transformation that Italy underwent between 1943 and 1948: from monarchy to Republic, and from fascism to democracy. Stepping away from examining formal political activity, Forlenza focuses on the hopes, fears, and expectations that the public formulated under conditions of political and existential uncertainty.
Review Quotes: "... an accomplished and sure-footed synthesis of a complicated and ambiguous period that highlights the making of meaning, the agency of the subjects, and the tremendous creative energy devoted in a time of crisis that could produce a democratic republic in Italy fundamentally ex novo." -- Molly Tambor, Journal of Modern History