Lucy Hughes-Hallett
THE TIMES BIOGRAPHY OF THE DECADE
WINNER OF THE 2013 SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION
WINNER OF THE 2013 COSTA BOOK AWARDS BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR
The story of Gabriele D’Annunzio, poet, daredevil – and Fascist.
In September 1919 Gabriele D’Annunzio, successful poet and occasional politician, declared himself Commandante of the city of Fiume in modern-day Croatia. His intention – to establish a utopia based on his fascist and artistic ideals. It was the dramatic pinnacle to an outrageous career.
Lucy Hughes-Hallett charts the controversial life of D’Annunzio, the debauched artist who became a national hero. His evolution from idealist Romantic to radical right-wing revolutionary is a political parable. Through his ideological journey, culminating in the failure of the Fiume endeavour, we witness the political turbulence of early 20th-century Europe and the emergence of fascism.
In The Pike, Hughes-Hallett addresses the cult of nationalism and the origins of political extremism – and at the centre of the book stands the charismatic D’Annunzio: a figure as deplorable as he is fascinating.
Reviews of The Pike: Gabriele d’Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War
-
- ‘Hard to beat … a biographical tour de force … a rich, voluptuous treat … a triumph, the biography of the year’ Robert McCrum, Observer, ‘Books of the Year’
- ‘[The Pike] dramatically extends biography’s formal range to encompass a daunting theme’ TLS, ‘Books of the Year’
- ‘This is a magnificent portrait of a preposterous character … deplorable, brilliant, ludicrous, tragic but above all irresistible, as hundreds of women could testify. His biographer has done him full justice’ Francis Wheen, Daily Mail
- ‘A cracker of a biography, an extraordinary story of literary accomplishment, passionate war-mongering and sexual incorrigibility… In less skilled hands this could have been a disaster; in fact it works wonderfully well’ Spectator, ‘Books of the Year’
- ‘Beautiful, strange and original … an extraordinarily intimate portrait’ New Statesman
- ‘Hugely enjoyable … Hughes-Hallett has a great talent for encapsulating an era or an attitude …That almost 700 pages flew by bears testimony to how pleasurable and readable those pages were’ Sunday Times
- ‘A splendid subject for a biography … Hughes-Hallett dances her way through this extraordinary life in a style that is playful, punchy and generally pleasing … In death, as in life, the amazing story of D’Annunzio is painted in primary colours, but with the darkest shadows’ Observer
- ‘A riveting biography … It must have been so tempting to be judgmental, but Hughes-Hallett allows us to judge for ourselves’ Antonia Fraser, Daily Mail, ‘Books of the Year’
- ‘Not only an inspired telling of a life that becomes more repellent with each page, it illuminates early 20th-century Europe in brilliant, unexpected ways’ Observer
- ‘Electrifying … a fascinating portrait … Hughes-Hallett relates his journey from romantic idealist to Right-wing warmonger with flair and insight’ Daily Express
More from Lucy Hughes-Hallett
-
Fabulous
Paperback -
Fabulous
Other -
Fabulous
Other -
Fabulous
Hardback -
Peculiar Ground
Paperback -
Peculiar Ground
Other -
Peculiar Ground
Hardback -
Peculiar Ground
Other -
Heroes: Saviours, Traitors and Supermen
Hardback -
Heroes
Paperback -
The Pike: Gabriele d’Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War
Other -
Heroes: Saviours, Traitors and Supermen (TEXT ONLY)
Other -
The Pike: Gabriele d’Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War
Paperback -
The Pike: Gabriele d’Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War
Other