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Article: The bane of Italy; Silvio Berlusconi.(The Sack of Rome: How a Beautiful European Country with a Fabled History and a Storied Culture Was Taken Over by a Man Named Silvio Berlusconi)(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- July 1, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ALEXANDER STILLE'S new book on Silvio Berlusconi, the flamboyant former Italian prime minister, is neither a biography nor a work of investigative journalism. Its real value is that it represents the first attempt, in English at least, to recount in a readable fashion the story, not of Mr Berlusconi himself, but of Berlusconi-ism. That gives it a wide appeal, for, as its author argues persuasively, Berlusconi-ism is the extrapolation to grotesque extremes of a phenomenon that has gradually, and all too imperceptibly, become widespread.
Mr Stille is at his best when he describes how a man with a corporation with billions of dollars of debt succeeded in less than ...