Mulino Frankfurt 2023 Rights List

18–22 October 2023

Foreign rights new and forthcoming

Frankfurt Rights List 2023

History p. 5 ANTHONY PAGDEN

Beyond States: Powers, Peoples and Global Order p. 6 MARZIO BARBAGLI

Men Lacking…: A History of Eunuchs and the Decline of Violence p. 7 GASTONE BRECCIA

The Battle Demon: Alexander at Issus p. 8 CLAUDIO FERLAN A History of Christian Missions: From Their Origins to Decolonization p. 9 FABIO ISMAN The Rome You Don’t Know: Voyage among the Secrets of the Eternal City p. 10 PASQUALE PALMIERI Cagliostro’s Hundred Lives p. 11 ARNALDO TESTI

History’s Annoyances: The Stories Told by America’s Monuments p. 12 FRANCO CARDINI, MARINA MONTESANO Sacred Women: Sorceresses, Priestesses, Seers p. 13 EMILIO PADOA-SCHIOPPA An Ecological History of Europe p. 14 ANTONIO MUSARRA

Neverlands: Imaginary Geographies of Mediterranean and Atlantic Islands p. 15 ERMANNO ORLANDO The Many Venices of Marco Polo: A Tale of a Merchant and His Cities p. 16 DUCCIO BALESTRACCI All Through the Year: Nature, Seasons, Rites p. 17 EMANUELE FELICE The Quest for Rights: An Idea of History p. 18 MARCELLA FRANGIPANE One Fragment at a Time: Ten Archaeology Lessons p. 19 ANDREA GRAZIOSI The Plural West and Modernity: Thoughts on the End of an Era

’23

Philosophy

p. 20 NADIA URBINATI Virtuous Hypocrisy p. 21 MAURO BONAZZI Past p. 22 ALBERTO MINGARDI Capitalism p. 23 ROBERTO ESCOBAR

The Faces of Fear p. 24 ENZO BIANCHI

What Awaits Us on the Other Side: Hymn to Life p. 25 GIULIO BUSI One: The Invisible Beat p. 26 GIANFRANCO RAVASI Three: Divine Arithmetic p. 27 DANIELE SCHÖN Four: Seasons, Voices, Quarters, Hands p. 28 MARCO ANTONIO BAZZOCCHI

Hundred: A Tower of Tales

Miscellaneous

p. 29 EDOARDO LOMBARDI VALLAURI Misunderstanding Japan: Voyage to the Most Foreign of Countries p. 30 LUCIANO CANFORA Lessons in Classical Philology p. 31 LAMBERTO MAFFEI Only Crazy People Change the World: Art and Folly p. 32 MASSIMO LIVI BACCI

By Land and By Sea: Fifteen Migrations from Ancient Times to the Present p. 33 AUGUSTO BARBERA Secularism: At the Roots of the West p. 34 ALESSANDRO VANOLI Spring: The Restless Season p. 35 ALESSANDRO VANOLI Summer: Potential and Nostalgia

’23

p. 36 ALESSANDRO VANOLI Autumn: The Time of Return p. 37 ALESSANDRO VANOLI Winter: A Tale of Expectation

Politics p. 38 GABRIELE D’ANGELO, GIAMPIERO GIACOMELLO Cybersecurity: What It Is and How It Works p. 39 VALENTINA RITA SCOTTI Erdoğan’s Turkey p. 40 MAURIZIO SCARPARI China in Focus: Imperial Ideology and World Disorder p. 41 FRANCESCO STRAZZARI The Ukraine Frontier: War, Geopolitics and International Order

Science

p. 42 MASSIMIANO BUCCHI Digital Intimacy: Vices and Virtues of Innovation p. 43 MAURIZIO CASIRAGHI More and More Alone: On the Verge of the Sixth Extinction p. 44 ALESSANDRO LANZA Rainbow Energy: Does the Future Belong to Hydrogen?

Series «Farsi un’idea» p. 45 ANNA SILVIA BOMBI, DANIELE MALAGUTI

The Right to Boredom: Finding the Time to Think p. 46 GABRIELE FERRETTI

Running and Ultra Running: Will We All Be Ultra Marathon Runners? p. 47 ANDREA GOLDSTEIN

The Power of Global Football: Economics, Politics, and the Beautiful Game p. 48 ANDREA STRACCIARI, ANGELO FIORITTI

Nostalgia: A Resource for Our Well-Being

’23

Anthony Pagden

Beyond States

Powers, Peoples and Global Order None of the great challenges facing us today – the protection of the environment, the rational use of energy sources, the health of our species and, indeed, of all living things – can now be addressed by a single country, no matter how powerful it may be. Awareness of this fact entails the need to think about something that had previously seemed an utter utopia: the prospect of a planetary government stretching well beyond the borders of nation-states, even when the latter tend to take on the form of empires. At the same time, we increasingly encounter expressions such as «international justice», «supra-territoriality» and «transnational government», despite the horrors of the war of aggression occurring at Europe’s doorstep. We are growing accustomed to the idea of a global civil society, something like an authentic planetary civilisation. This lucid, realistic and visionary book, written by a major historian, projects readers into an imaginable future – not only for the West, but for an entire world finally at peace with itself.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 256 ISBN 978-88-15-38333-4 publication year 2023

Anthony Pagden teaches History and Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

History

’23

Marzio Barbagli

Men Lacking…

A History of Eunuchs and the Decline of Violence Long considered a taboo by historians and sociologists, the study of the social group brought into being by male castration, in a variety of countries and historical eras, has identifled several common yet unexpected features. How is it possible that, despite being widely despised for their mutilation, eunuchs attained positions of power and became highly trusted by kings and emperors? Starting from the under-explored topic of male mutilations, the author tells the story of eunuchs – in Europe, Asia and Africa – from the 9th century BCE to the present time and sheds light on the (partial or complete) forms of castration, the norms aiming to regulate the practice, the roles played by these men in various sectors of society and the economy, as well as their families and their loves. The binary distinction between men and women underlying contemporary social, political and economic patterns has recently been challenged by people who claim to belong to a third sex and a third gender. The history of eunuchs shows that this challenge had already arisen in the past.

series «Biblioteca storica» pp. 416 ISBN 978-88-15-38342-6 publication year 2023

Marzio Barbagli is emeritus professor of Sociology at the University of Bologna.

History

’23

Gastone Breccia

The Battle Demon Alexander at Issus

November 333 BCE: Alexander the Great meets the great army of Darius III at Issus. Facing off against each other are a multi-faceted man’s courage and ambition and the power of an empire. After hours of raging battle, covered in blood and dust, Alexander dismounts his horse and enters Darius’s tent, abandoned by the fleeing enemy ruler and where he finds the latter’s mother, wife and daughters. The king of Macedonia not only dealt a mortal blow to Persia – he fought as if possessed by a demon, thus spawning a myth that will endure throughout the centuries. Witnesses saw him throw himself headlong towards his enemy’s chariot.

By nightfall the awe-inspiring conquest was already a legend, rendered immortal in a famous Greek painting, then duplicated in a mosaic preserved in Naples. The mosaic is the only surviving, spectacular «snapshot» of an ancient battle. With rigor and an engaging narrative of the battle, this book provides a lively portrait of one of the characters who contributed significantly to shaping the history of the West, when – on his «perfect day» – he managed to harness the «battle demon» that appeared to possess him and make him invincible.

This book is part of a new series The Perfect Day Some battles are won or lost on a specific day, when courage, luck, strategic skill and the ability to lead an army, a crowd or a demonstration all converge in the consummation of a life and an undertaking. This series will offer books that describe battles fought with different weapons: swords, spears, rifles, bombs, words and ambition. Harsh, often cruel battles will carry readers to the edge of new, evocative and sometimes terrifying worlds, where they can behold leaders capable of guiding men and women to victory on the battleground… on a perfect day.

series «Intersezioni» «The Perfect Day» pp. 216 ISBN 978-88-15-38330-3 publication year 2023

Coming soon: Epaminondas at Leuctra Caesar at Pharsalus Napoleon Bonaparte at Marengo Wilhelm von Tegetthoff at Lissa Robert E. Lee at Chancellorville Martin Luther King at Selma

Gastone Breccia teaches Byzantine History and Ancient Military History at the University of Pavia.

History

’23

Claudio Ferlan

A History of Christian Missions From Their Origins to Decolonization

This book provides a history of the idea and the practices of missions, from early Christians’ words and lives up to the 20th century. The text offers readers a global story which – thanks to geographical exploration and the consequent widening of the boundaries of possibility – spans the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa.

The older religious orders initially engaged in evangelization efforts – the Franciscans and the Dominicans – were gradually joined by newer ones, above all the Capuchins and the Jesuits. The latter, in particular, carried out missionary activities in Latin America which stretched well beyond mere proselytization and promoted the creation of tangible political and institutional tools. From the modern age onwards, the Roman Catholic Church lost its monopoly on overseas missions, which were challenged and sometimes replaced by followers of Protestant denominations. Did decolonization spell the end of missions? Certainly not, but it did usher in a paradigm shift, probably completed during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) with the emergence of a more widespread ecumenical outlook.

series «Le vie della civiltà» pp. 248 ISBN 978-88-15-38624-3 publication year 2023

Claudio Ferlan is a research fellow at the Italian-German Historical Institute of the Bruno Kessler Foundation in Trento.

Portuguese (Brazil) rights sold.

History

’23

Fabio Isman

The Rome You Don’t Know

Voyage among the Secrets of the Eternal City «Rome: a lifetime is not enough», as the saying goes.

For this very reason the Eternal City continues to provide its guests with the thrill of discovering unknown treasures. Virtually no one knows about Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s last, splendid fountain, despite its fascinating history. On the Aventine Hill, you can lower yourself through a manhole in the middle of a square and end up in Emperor Trajan’s private residence, still totally frescoed. A church’s paintings feature a variety of tortures. An unfinished church, by Francesco Borromini, houses a copy of the Shroud and is now a luxury hotel at the foot of the Janiculum Hill. These are just some of the lesser-known sites that Rome offers its visitors.

This book’s author invites readers to abandon the usual itineraries, experience the taste of discovery, enjoy the pleasure of the unusual and the unknown, and follow new paths: seven small yet memorable masterpieces, seven remarkable venues, seven forgotten characters, seven dates to remember, seven painful losses that mutilated Italy’s capital.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 200 ISBN 978-88-15-38618-2 publication year 2023

Fabio Isman is a journalist and writer, who used to report for Rome’s «Il Messaggero» daily newspaper.

History

’23

Pasquale Palmieri

Cagliostro’s Hundred Lives Although he often adopted nonconformist stances, Giuseppe Balsamo – better known as Count Alessandro di Cagliostro – relentlessly attempted to conform to the values of the ruling classes. A true media man, the Count of Cagliostro achieved fame in the late 18th century thanks to his alleged divination skills, alchemical abilities and Masonic militancy. His exploits inspired news reports, pamphlets, satires, portraits, caricatures, novels, and poems. The adventurer travelled tirelessly from one country to the next and became the prototype of the modern «star», a celebrity fêted by the European public. The hero of this mighty saga was exceptional enough to arouse awe, but he also displayed a down-to-earth nature that lent him credibility. He did not soar high above society, but entered its folds by exercising charm, for the sole purpose of being accepted and having his prestige acknowledged. The author offers a sprawling depiction of this remarkable man, highlighting a selection of key moments of his life, marked by legal proceedings that attracted unprecedented attention from the media.

series «Biblioteca storica» pp. 248 ISBN 978-88-15-38341-9 publication year 2023

Pasquale Palmieri teaches Modern History at the Federico II University in Naples.

History

’23

Arnaldo Testi

History’s Annoyances

The Stories Told by America’s Monuments Monuments can be the mirrors of a nation, objects of civic and political worship, overlooked decorative elements of urban landscapes, or thorns pushed down cities’ throats. Is there a certain degree of ideological intransigence in the way certain American monuments are discussed, criticized, sometimes vandalised, often removed by public authorities? Or are those same monuments an attempt to erase history, to celebrate some of its aspects as it conceals others? The author tells the stories of selected monuments in conflicted United States society and plunges into the chaotic heart of that country’s past. There emerges a portrait of an illusory and imperfect America, its self-representations, the people who betrayed its promise, past polarizations and compromises, and contemporary tensions.

Even when it is etched in stone or bronze and thus memorialized, history is always annoying.

series «Contemporanea» pp. 272 ISBN 978-88-15-38398-3 publication year 2023

Arnaldo Testi formerly taught History of the United States at the University of Pisa.

History

’23

Franco Cardini, Marina Montesano

Sacred Women

Sorceresses, Priestesses, Seers Circe was a «dread goddess with human speech», as she is described in the Odyssey. Pythia was the high oracle at the sanctuary of Delphi and uttered prophecies by channelling Apollo. Ever since ancient times, women have been attributed magical and sacral powers. In pre-Christian Celtic Europe, the priestesses of Carnac attended to the holy bonfire at the god Beltane’s sun festival. Druidic priestesses were believed to exert powers and recite chants capable of churning the seas, curing diseases and predicting the future. In the Abrahamic religions, in which priesthood is reserved to males, women nevertheless assume an important role that was strengthened by great mystics and saints, such as Hildegard of Bingen and Teresa of Ávila, as well as lesser-known but equally fascinating figures such as Christina Mirabilis (tradition has it that she died and came back to life), and Madame de Montespan (Louis XIV’s enigmatic chief mistress). This unusual and powerful book illustrates a gallery of extraordinary women, including some from non-European contexts: Central Asian shamanesses, American curanderas and medicine women, Congolese nganga marindas, and the mythical Hindu apsaras and d.ākinīs.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 280 ISBN 978-88-15-38757-8 publication year 2023 in bookstores from 15/11/2023

Franco Cardini is professor emeritus of Medieval History.

Marina Montesano teaches Medieval History at the University of Messina and is the author of «Classical Culture and Witchcraft in Medieval and Renaissance Italy» (Palgrave, 2018).

History

’23

Emilio Padoa-Schioppa

An Ecological History of Europe This book is the flrst environmental history of the European continent. Can we achieve decarbonised and circular economies (in a word: sustainability) without understanding the natural and environmental history of where we live? Can we implement an ecological transition without a deep knowledge of ecology and ecological history? Even deflning Europe is a slippery business. Its diversity, evolutionary history and shifting boundaries contribute to the continent’s fluctuating reality. Yet, paradoxically, Europe is instantly recognisable. With its characteristic human landscapes, formerly grand forests, Mediterranean coasts and Alpine panoramas, we all know it when we see it. This book does not want to be a chronological account of past natural events, but rather sheds light on Europe’s peculiar phenomena, scenarios, and emblematic occurrences, in a way that describes the relationship between humanity and the environment. The author shows how the transformations in Europe have helped bring the planet Earth into the current Anthropocene epoch.

series «Le vie della civiltà» pp. 250 ISBN 978-88-15-38672-4 publication year 2023

Emilio Padoa-Schioppa teaches Landscape Ecology, Biology and Biology Teaching at the Bicocca University in Milan, where he helped found the Landscape Ecology Research Unit.

History

’23

et e nt

ne

Neverlands

Imaginary Geographies of Mediterranean and Atlantic Islands

COGNOME - COGNOME

at.

Antonio Musarra

ANTONIO MUSARRA L’ISOLA CHE NON C’È

Geografie immaginarie fra Mediterraneo e Atlantico

TITOLO VOLUME Biblioteca storica

Cliffs, atolls, shreds of land emerging from the sea, vast agglomerations, veritable continents: the history of isNOME COGNOME lands and AUTORE their discovery has energized travellers and Biografia autore 1. Nullantiis quae fascinated scholars throughout the ages. Christopher rem que eat labor repel mo te pedis ero omnihil iciet, odi di vellia sequis Columbus claims to have encountered 1,400 of them, reius, sum qui dis velent haris volum doluptae venem id mod que according toconest a letter from Pope Alexander VI, or even expelestrum exero quo tem rem venis moluptur, omnihilit ma ium 1,700, according to a message sent to the Iberian royal ame reiciet eiur. family. Such numbers are far lower than those reported NOME COGNOME AUTORE in the Indian Ocean by Marco Polo (as many as 12,700) Biografia autore 2. Nullantiis quae orqueGuillaume Adam (20,000), a Dominican who lived rem eat labor repel mo te pedis ero omnihil iciet, odi di vellia sequis between the 13th and 14th centuries. This book tells reius, sum qui dis velent haris volum doluptae venem id mod que conest the adventurous and fantastic story of the search for isexpelestrum exero quo tem rem venis moluptur,during omnihilit ma ium lands the Middle Ages, an account encompassame reiciet eiur. ing a variety of (often devastating) «discoveries» and «conquests», as well as recurring disappointments – all linked to the utopian, unquenched desire to witness the transformation of the substance of dreams into reality.

series «Biblioteca storica» pp. 350 ISBN 978-88-15-38763-9 publication year 2023

Antonio Musarra teaches Medieval History at the Sapienza University in Rome.

History

’23

Ermanno Orlando

The Many Venices of Marco Polo A Tale of a Merchant and His Cities

On January 8, 2024, 700 years will have passed since Marco Polo’s demise, thus providing us with an opportunity to rediscover the genius and the greatness of an individual who has been as the centre of endless literature, in a wide variety of languages. The time is ripe to revive his extraordinary travel stories, which introduced the distant, fabulous Orient to Christian Europe.

Yet, in this book, the author completely overturns the mainstream viewpoint and leads his readers on a journey through Marco Polo’s Venice. In doing so, he draws upon Italo Calvino’s «Invisible Cities» and provides a portrait of the port from which Marco Polo set sail as a youth and to which he returned as a seasoned man.

But the book also describes the cities he visited during his travels: Trebizond, Tabriz, Constantinople and Acre, to name just a few. The lagoon city, the Mediterranean Sea, the «other Venices»; the culture and the mentality of a society of merchants; the exploits on an endless sea, capable of projecting contemporary Venetians into infinity: these are the ingredients of a fantastic voyage in which, for once, Marco Polo remains in the background and relinquishes the centre stage to Venice – imagined, experienced, abandoned and then rediscovered – and its mirage.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 300 ISBN 978-88-15-38756-1 publication year 2023

Ermanno Orlando teaches Medieval History at the Siena University for Foreigners.

History

’23

All Through the Year Nature, Seasons, Rites

BALESTRACCI ATTRAVERSANDO L’ANNO

ripete a quasi

Duccio Balestracci

DUCCIO BALESTRACCI ATTRAVERSANDO L’ANNO Natura, stagioni, riti

The feast of Saint Michael’s, All Hallows’ Eve, Candlemas, Saint John’s Eve, Imbolc and its Celtic rites, and shaATTRAVERSANDO L’ANNO practices ushering in the spring: from autumn to manic La festa di San Michele, la notte di summer, light and darkness, as well as death and reOgnissanti, ma anche la Candelora, i re e le regine dei boschi nelle feste di San generation, follow one another, engender change, and Giovanni, i riti celtici per Imbolc e quelli sciamanici per l’arrivo della primavera. are accompanied by human efforts to control them and Dall’autunno all’estate i cicli della luce e del buio, della morte e della rigenerazione with nature – generous, yet mysestablish a dialogue si susseguono e si trasformano, e con essi lo sforzo umanoand di arginare e dialogare terious unpredictable, constantly transforming its con una natura generosa ma anche misteriosa, capricciosa e che cambiaone season to the next. Accordingly, appearance from volto da una stagione all’altra. E così ricorrenze pagane e cristiane, ritualità e feasts, rites and beliefs are estabpagan and Christian credenze si sedimentano, sovrappongono e contaminano.

Il tentativo di governarle lished, overlap and enrich one another. Any attempts e disciplinarle messo in opera dalle istituzioni laiche ed ecclesiastiche to govern them undertaken by secular and ecclesiastisi scontra con un nucleo archetipo resistente sottotraccia accanto ainevitably evidenze cal institutions come up against an unseen, di superfetazione miracolosa. Duccio Balestracci ci accompagna alla scoperta archetypal core of resistance, bolstered by traces of midel calendario del cielo e della terra e ci conduce al cuore del rapporto con una The author accompanies his readraculous accretion. natura che si avvicina e si allontana, fa tremareon e amare. ers a journey through a calendar that renews and repeats itself, continually strengthening the ancestral relationship bonding humanity and nature.

Intersezioni

15 386687

series «Intersezioni» pp. 250 ISBN 978-88-15-38668-7 publication year 2023

Duccio Balestracci formerly taught Medieval History at the University of Siena.

History

’23

Emanuele Felice

The Quest for Rights An Idea of History

Is it possible to find meaning in human history, an underlying path that guides politics? According to the author, the answer to this question lies in the on-going extension of human rights. Starting in the 18th century, such rights have gradually expanded from traditional civil and political liberties to social rights, and then again to novel civil and environmental rights.

Responsibilities have likewise proliferated. This process was rendered possible because, during the 20th century, liberalism and socialism came together in the framework of the democratic state. In a similar way, in today’s globalized world, both must combine with environmentalism in order to address new challenges.

The outcome cannot be easily predicted. The author reinterprets human history from this perspective and shows how, to avoid betraying their own principles, liberalism, socialism and environmentalism can and indeed must complement each other.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 368 ISBN 978-88-15-29494-4 publication year 2022

Emanuele Felice teaches Economics of Culture at the IULM University of Languages and Communication in Milan.

English ms available.

History

’23

Marcella Frangipane

One Fragment at a Time Ten Archaeology Lessons

All artefacts bear the sign of events that occurred at the time they were created and of the functions they performed within the community. They are fragments of everyday life: traces of religious rituals, economic activities, and people’s relationships with the environment.

Like shards of a mirror, such objects reflect an image of what we have been and help us to make sense of the past. Years of work are required to tie together the threads of such distant and unfamiliar worlds. And, in fact, the renowned archaeologist who wrote this book spent over 30 years at the Arslantepe (or Melid) site in Anatolia, where the oldest public building in the world still stands. She accompanies readers on a journey through time (dating back six millennia or more) and space (in Anatolia and throughout the Fertile Crescent) to discover the first human civilizations and the political and social phenomena that still shape our lives.

The book offers ten lessons drawn from ancient archaeology to help understand how we got here and what future awaits us.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 280 ISBN 978-88-15-38289-4 publication year 2023

member of the Italian Accademia dei Lincei and the A British Academy, Marcella Frangipane teaches Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology at the Sapienza University in Rome. For 30 years she directed the excavations at the Arslantepe site in Turkey, recently named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History

’23

Andrea Graziosi

The Plural West and Modernity Thoughts on the End of an Era

It is increasingly necessary to review our ideas, our categories, our interpretation of the present and the past.

More so than the upheavals of the 1970s and the collapse of socialist modernity in 1991, the Covid-19 pandemic and Putin’s ongoing war in Ukraine have shed a harsh light on the evolution and the crisis of Western societies. The author contemplates causes and consequences of the changes that have progressively transformed the West after the Second World War. The end of the rural world, individualization, the collapse of birth rates, the extraordinary improvement of life expectancy, the emergence of new reactionary movements, the painstaking reorganization of plural collectivities in order to accommodate ethnic perspectives, and the decline of political participation are just some of the topics addressed in the book. What type of innovative behaviour can we undertake to save a type of Modernity that may indeed be in crisis but has also managed, despite all its drawbacks, to improve human freedom and dignity more than any other known system?

series «Contemporanea» pp. 216 ISBN 978-88-15-38295-5 publication year 2023

Andrea Graziosi teaches Contemporary History at the Federico II University in Naples and is a renowned expert of Soviet, Ukrainian and Eastern European history.

Awarded the Premio Capalbio for foreign politics 2023.

History

’23

Nadia Urbinati Siamo sicuri che dire sempre ciò che si pensa ci aiuterà a vivere una vita migliore e a trattare gli altri con rispetto?

O forse questo precetto, apparentemente tanto saggio, a volte ha fatto precipitare le nostre vite pubbliche e private?

L’IPOCRISIA VIRTUOSA

t aut ugia

TITOLO VOLUME

st,

Virtuous Hypocrisy

Nome Cognome

con lla tas as

Nadia Urbinati

Speak your mind, always. Hypocrisy challenges this rule of authenticity, and for this very reason hypocriNome biografia autore sy isCognome, judged negatively, as intentional inconsistency nullantiis quae rem que eat labor repel between thoughts and words, between belief and mo te pedis ero omnihil iciet, odi di vellia sequis reius, sum qui dis velent behaviour. Does this make the hypocrite a silent sabharis volum doluptae venem id mod que oteur of the moral order? A person who hides in the conest expelestrum exero quo tem rem shadows and erodes the foundations of trust? Without venis moluptur, omnihilit ma ium ame reiciet eiur.there Cum haruntis trust is nodemporest, society, nor friendship, nor love. But sin et dolorest, soluptae sapedia society, turepuda volo friendship tem nobis a suntand aut love also require a measure of venis este plaborr hypocrisy. ovitatius denis quo «virtuous» If we were always robustly honquunt, culliqui iliciunt reiuntem. est in public, it would be a disaster for everyone. What about politics?

Here, too, are hypocrisy, inconsistency, and exchange always reprehensible? Or are they the essence of any democracy, any assembly, any meeting? The important thing is to understand when and within what limits hypocrisy can be justified and, above all, what is the opposite of hypocrisy.

VOCI

series «Voci» pp. 180 ISBN 978-88-15-38761-5 publication year 2023

Nadia Ubinati teaches Political Theory at Columbia University in New York.

Philosophy

’23

Mauro Bonazzi

Past

Faster and faster: the car races, adrenaline kicks in, the landscape constantly changes. As for the direction, that is a matter for later: now there is no time. It is an exhilarating and frightening feeling: will we lose control? As in a video game, speed increases yet again… but this is definitely not a video game. In a society that emphasizes the present and features continuous acceleration, is the past now doomed to a fate of collective suppression? Can there still be any point in discussing what is called «tradition»?

The past may no longer speak a familiar language, but it poses a problem that affects everyone. This book touches on a selection of pressing issues underpinning current cultural debates – from cancel culture to the crisis of authority – in an attempt to show that the past exists only within an ongoing negotiation with the present. The past is a dynamic process, not an immutable entity, a challenge we cannot avoid addressing.

If we do not know where we come from, we will not understand where we are going, let alone who we are, individually and collectively.

series «Voci» «Parole controtempo» pp. 150 ISBN 978-88-15-38760-8 publication year 2023 in bookstores from 15/10/2023

Mauro Bonazzi teaches History of Ancient Philosophy at the University of Milan.

Philosophy

’23

Alberto Mingardi

Capitalism

There are words that many people love to hate. One of them is «capitalism», which – as it is used today – is often associated with a negative judgment, shaped mostly by its enemies, and creates an invisible thread that links today’s riches to tomorrow’s. Humanity has always exchanged goods and services and created «markets», but only since the Industrial Revolution has the economic dimension become central in people’s lives. We have experienced «growth», and along with it, an increase in average income, a reduction in infant mortality, a lengthening of the average lifespan, and access to many other formerly inconceivable comforts.

Yet our world remains divided between increasingly impoverished poor people and increasingly wealthy rich ones – a world where inequalities proliferate and welfare systems are endangered by the anarchy of production. Is capitalism a mere instrument of exploitation that humans use on other humans? Revised and corrected, current critiques are the same ones formulated

by Marx and Engels in their Manifesto. This book attempts to shed light on the concepts we associate with capitalism and, above all, to provide a novel account of this key idea.

series «Voci» «Parole controtempo» pp. 168 ISBN 978-88-15-38619-9 publication year 2023

Alberto Mingardi teaches History of Political Thought at the IULM University of Languages and Communication in Milan and heads the Bruno Leoni Institute in the same city.

World Spanish rights sold.

Philosophy

’23

Roberto Escobar

The Faces of Fear Fear is the strongest emotion, as well as the most misunderstood. We refuse to explore its secrets, we worry about it as an enemy, but – both as individuals and as a species – we have no choice but to live with it. Fear is a wake-up call: it signals the presence of a threat and prompts us to flee, but then sometimes it suggests suspending our flight, getting to know what we fear in order to transform the hidden danger into an unconcealed risk, to be faced and overcome. These are the two faces of fear. The first urges us to defend what we already have and our identity, as when we lock the doors to our homes. The other encourages us to open those doors and cross the threshold, to discover what we can be and have. But there is also a fear that turns into terror or anguish, exposing us to danger and preventing curiosity from enriching our lives. This leads to much suffering and moral misery, as well as hatred for those who do not belong.

series «Universale Paperbacks il Mulino» «Filosofia e vita quotidiana» pp. 198 ISBN 978-88-15-38770-7 publication year 2023

Roberto Escobar formerly taught Political Philosophy at the University of Milan.

Philosophy

’23

Enzo Bianchi

What Awaits Us on the Other Side Hymn to Life

Do questions about the afterlife continue to make any sense? In a society in which death is alternatively repressed or denied – even in our language (of those who die we say, «she’s gone», «he is no longer with us») – or sensationalized by a tide of explicit images, what meaning can we possibly attach to «what comes next»? And what can death represent, in its standing as an experience in the reign of eternal life, in today’s Western world, shaped by Christian culture and the grand code of the Bible? A wandering and tireless seeker of meaning, Enzo Bianchi offers us a poetic and non-dogmatic meditation on the most unavoidable of issues and provides an answer focused on love and how it underpins the world and our relationships with others. There is reason for hope, for all humanity, even after our earthly existence.

This impassioned and trust-laden book sheds light on death and deprives it of terror.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 152 ISBN 978-88-15-29986-4 publication year 2022

Enzo Bianchi is the founder of the Bose Monastic Community in northern Italy and was its prior until 2017.

He has written texts on Christian spirituality and the Church’s dialogue with contemporary society.

French and German rights sold.

Philosophy

’23

Giulio Busi

One

The Invisible Beat Tales of Numbers: A new series of 12 books, edited

by Umberto Bottazzini This new book series has an informative slant and is aimed at educated but non-specialist readers. «Numbers» are not just for counting; in fact, they have played an exceptionally significant role in the history of Western thought. Each book focuses on a specific number and each number provides an opportunity to explore cultural topics and issues with an original perspective. Every contribution to the series offers stories and suggestions drawn from a wide variety of contexts, such as philosophy, theology, literature and music.

This is the presentation of the first title in the series:

series «Voci» «Tales of Numbers» pp. 156 ISBN 978-88-15-29491-3 publication year 2022

Is it a question of love? «My dove, my perfect one, is the only one»: so says the Song of Songs. No, replies Plato: understanding «one» requires a profound and meticulous science. If «one» exists, the road leading to its home must also be unique, unmistakable, inimitable. Let’s start from the labyrinth, from the multiple, from the confusion of faces and destinies, and let’s try to follow the hidden path that leads to the Sole One. Let us courageously enter this forest of encounters and bewilderments: perhaps we will emerge wiser, certainly more mature and mindful, as the journey towards «one» is also an arduous descent into ourselves. Who are our traveling companions? Ancient Israel, first and foremost; the advice of some old philosophers; the assistance of the usual mystics; a modicum of lyric love poetry, dreams, memories and tales. This is the right toolkit to go in search of the «one» – the most elusive and mysterious of numbers.

Giulio Busi , an expert in Jewish mysticism and Renaissance history, teaches Jewish Studies at the Freie Universität in Berlin.

Philosophy

’23

Gianfranco Ravasi

Three

Divine Arithmetic Three are the Graces, three the Fates, three the canticles of the Divine Comedy, three times «holy» is God in the canon of the Roman Catholic mass. Operas often have three acts, concerts three movements, and literature offers many friendship threesomes (Dumas’ three musketeers, Jerome’s three men in a boat). Most of all, the number 3 immediately calls to mind the Christian doctrine of the Trinity but is also the regulating norm of perfection for many other realities. The number three is a ubiquitous presence, a veritable ternary obsession; even popular lore reminds us that good things come in threes and that only three things in life are certain (birth, death and change). The author leads his readers into the great hall of that ideal castle which bears the number three on its architrave and leads them on a journey through musical, biblical, classical, natural, scientific, poetic, literary and sacred triads. This book unveils a number that transcends mere arithmetic.

series «Voci» «Tales of Numbers» pp. 176 ISBN 978-88-15-38339-6 publication year 2023

Gianfranco Ravasi , author of more than 150 books, is a renowned biblical scholar and a former president of the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology.

Philosophy

’23

Daniele Schön

Four

Seasons, Voices, Quarters, Hands Cloaked in apparent simplicity, the number 4 conceals mysteries and secrets, especially from a musical standpoint. Intricate internal clocks strike four quarters. Vocal instrumental quartets have long inspired great composers and tortured intrepid musicians. The number 4 emerges in a variety of other musical contexts: Vivaldi’s seasons, the performance of a piece by Bach, metres, heartbeats, neural oscillations, and popular hits that breathe life into listeners and make them cry. Also, 440 vibrations per second have become, over the centuries, the international pitch standard. So, what are the four main ingredients of this book’s recipe? A dollop of music theory, a dash of history, a (generous) spoonful of psychology and as many stories as needed. Serve warm and with a quart of wine.

series «Voci» «Tales of Numbers» pp. 140 ISBN 978-88-15-38340-2 publication year 2023 in bookstores from 01/09/2023

Daniele Schön is a research director at the Systems Neuroscience Institute in Marseilles, plays the cello, and studies how the brain encodes music and how music affects brain processes.

Philosophy

’23

Marco Antonio Bazzocchi

Hundred

A Tower of Tales «100» is not a number to which it is easy to relate. Indeed, with its aura of completeness, it evokes a sphere within which it is impossible to see. But 100 is stamped in our minds as the number that underlies great literary works (like the Divine Comedy and the Decameron), reminds us of many collections and refers to a compendium of combinations. So let’s imagine a highrise apartment building made of words and a reader who is free to roam inside, in search of authors and stories. Climbing up and down the stairs, the reader will meet not only Dante and Boccaccio, but also Georges Perec (with his «Life: A User’s Manual», a novel set in a 10-storey building), Italo Calvino, Giorgio Manganelli (with his «Centuria», comprising one hundred onepage micro-novels). One hundred is the boundary of an imaginary space, a number that convinces the mind to cultivate the illusion of having a relationship with perfection.

series «Voci» «Tales of Numbers» pp. 184 ISBN 978-88-15-29493-7 publication year 2022

Marco Antonio Bazzocchi teaches Modern and Contemporary Italian Literature at the University of Bologna.

Philosophy

’23

Edoardo Lombardi Vallauri

Misunderstanding Japan

Voyage to the Most Foreign of Countries This book features a collection of encounters, clashes, mistakes, and rescues, and provides an account of an Italian intellectual’s bewilderment in the country of Asian islanders, the land of the rising sun. The author is accustomed to understanding, mastering, even dominating the reality surrounding him, but in Japan finds himself constantly having to acknowledge his beginner’s status. Yet this situation does not cause any distress, for Japan is mild-mannered and treats its visitors with respect even when they are arrested for some sort of crime. It is a country of stunning beauty when it manages to reveal its grandeur. The author’s adventures involve boxes of candy, cautious bears, earthquakes, proper girls, coloured chalks, destructive dinosaurs, patient police officers, precious trash, a snack food called Big Katsu, a mock Lamborghini, rivers, lakes, volcanoes, jade stamps, the football player Alessandro Del Piero, and Sophia Loren. The final verdict: it’s okay not to understand a country so full of mysterious things, since continuing the search is such a pleasant experience.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 228 ISBN 978-88-15-38617-5 publication year 2023

Edoardo Lombardi Vallauri teaches General Linguistics at the Roma Tre University in Rome.

Miscellaneous

’23

Luciano Canfora

Lessons in Classical Philology Today we read ancient Greek and Latin texts in versions that were assembled at least a millennium after they were written. To what extent do the current versions faithfully reflect the originals, and what changes have the latter undergone? This is a historical question, which however implies to a more strictly operational one: when attempting to publish a new edition of one of those works, what procedures allow us to achieve our goal? This is the stuff of classical philology, a discipline already cultivated in ancient times (at least since the Great Library of Alexandria) and which later matured into the scientific study of the transmission of texts. Using specific and intriguing historical examples, the author puts his philological skills at the service of readers to guide them among this science’s key concepts (such as variant, archetype and stemma), its masters, and its practical methods.

series «Le vie della civiltà» pp. 192 ISBN 978-88-15-38673-1 publication year 2023 in bookstores from 08/09/2023

Luciano Canfora is emeritus professor at the University of Bari and editor-in-chief of the academic journal «Quaderni di Storia»; he also writes for the Italian daily newspaper «Corriere della Sera».

Miscellaneous

’23

Lamberto Maffei

Only Crazy People Change the World Art and Folly

According to Albert Einstein, «the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do». Far from being a manifestation of mere irrationality, folly can be considered a form of eccentric thought, capable of generating novel interpretations, original insights and fresh ways to understand the world. This book accompanies readers into the world of art and the brain. The author uses examples of crazy artists to show how creativity can save the world by providing a different – yet, at the same time, authentic and direct – perspective. Amid widespread uncertainty and new technologies’ homogenizing effects, the author provides an exceptional description of human nature and explores existential themes typically cultivated by mindful people: fragility, beauty, fear.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 140 ISBN 978-88-15-38288-7 publication year 2023

Lamberto Maffei , a former president of the Italian Accademia dei Lincei, is emeritus professor of Neurobiology at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa.

Russian and World Spanish rights sold.

Miscellaneous

’23

Massimo Livi Bacci

By Land and By Sea

Fifteen Migrations from Ancient Times to the Present All of humanity’s history is marked by periodic movements of people, prompted to migrate by a variety of reasons and circumstances, with results ranging from complete success to utter disaster. The author describes fifteen migrations that affected the Western world: Europe and America. The stories are organized according to the varying degree of individual freedom that determined the choice to move: from the absolute lack of freedom that characterizes forced displacements (as in the Soviet Union during World War II) to the opposite case of «free» travel (as in the case of the great transoceanic migrations during which millions of people crossed the Atlantic Ocean towards the United States, between the 19th and 20th centuries). Moving and changing one’s place of residence, physical environment and homeland is a human prerogative: migration can be used or remain dormant for some time… but its potential is and always will be substantial.

series «Biblioteca storica» pp. 232 ISBN 978-88-15-29499-9 publication year 2022

Massimo Livi Bacci is professor emeritus at the University of Florence and a member of Italy’s Accademia dei Lincei. orld English rights sold W World Spanish rights sold

Miscellaneous

’23

Augusto Barbera

Secularism

At the Roots of the West Like all founding concepts, secularism is a difficult idea.

Maybe that’s why many countries’ constitutions don’t explicitly mention it, despite its pervasiveness. The author of this book wonders if this is the concept that most distinguishes the West from the rest of the world.

Secularism implies the autonomy of law from the ethical-religious sphere, from which law effectively arises but from which it historically emancipated itself. Secularism guarantees the autonomy of both civil affairs and religious matters.

Secularism sits at the heart of political and religious pluralism. Secularism is a method capable of uniting believers and non-believers and creating the conditions for the coexistence of divergent outlooks on life.

Secularism repudiates antagonistic fundamentalism and dogmatic closure. In sum, secularism has many faces, and the author reviews them one by one, recomposing them in a unified perspective including them all, which indeed is the main feature of our civilization.

This informative book is written by an expert who plays the role of the teacher. He adopts a compelling point of view, taking into account the war which sets the West against the non-secularism of Putin’s Russia.

series «Universale Paperbacks il Mulino» pp. 140 ISBN 978-88-15-38674-8 publication year 2023

Augusto Barbera is emeritus professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Bologna and currently sits on Italy’s Constitutional Court.

Miscellaneous

’23

Alessandro Vanoli

Spring

The Restless Season Poised between the chill of winter and the warmth of summer, spring is a time of fragrance, rain and wind, despair and hope. Spring, by its very nature, is restless.

In order to understand spring, one must speak of festivals celebrating life reborn and revived light, observed

by Greeks, Jews and – at Easter – Christians. But one must also speak of armies, merchants (who for centuries have waited for the seas to calm down to resume their trade), revolutions, legal rights, and conquests.

Spring, however, above all relates to the Earth’s cycle, the equinox, the awakening of senses and bodies, flowers, herbs, insects, birds – an unsettling desire in which everything seems to tap into something more ancient and profound, perhaps the origins of the world, the primordial nature to which we are bound by biology.

Spring tells a story of poignant nostalgia, of a time when we were at one with the world, sharing a sole rhythm and a common order of things.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 280 ISBN 978-88-15-28589-8 publication year 2020

Alessandro Vanoli is an expert on Mediterranean history.

Miscellaneous

’23

Alessandro Vanoli

Summer

Potential and Nostalgia Summer: a motionless and blinding light, the waves of the sea rippling with foam, the breath of the warm wind furrowed by the flight of a seagull, the song of the cicadas beyond the beach, children laying in the sand playing with castles and shells, the silhouettes of those we have loved for only one season. Summer lives on in the impressions preserved in our memories, in nostalgic and poignant reminiscences, because it’s not just a particular moment of the year: summer is an idea of happiness, a refuge, an ideal place of our youth. And so (after previous books addressing autumn, winter and spring), the author’s last journey draws on wistfulness, contemporary summers experienced as holidays, desires and dreams. And then he takes us back in time to rediscover the art, music and literature of summer throughout history: the violent appearances of the Greek gods, the arid and powerful Egyptian kingdom, the medieval saints’ festivals, the ripened and harvested crops, the torrid temperatures of the colonial world, the suffocating heat of cities. Yet summer is fleeting; it’s over as soon as we sense the first thunderstorms arriving from afar. What remains is a set of images of the best days of the year… or maybe even of our lives.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 240 ISBN 978-88-15-38399-0 publication year 2023

Alessandro Vanoli is an expert on Mediterranean history.

Miscellaneous

’23

Alessandro Vanoli

Autumn

The Time of Return This time the story begins in a forest, where a golden, mild light playfully flickers along the colourful bushes, and the fresh air carries the unmistakable scent of mushrooms and earth. In these pages we will encounter the olden autumns of herdsmen and gods; the medieval autumns of merchants, peasants, knights, monks and shepherds; the modern ones of men and women, each carrying his or her own load of memories, desires, adventures, and knowledge. Autumn is a bit like going home when the journey is over: the elated enthusiasm of spring is distant, and the serene fullness of summer is also behind us.

Now come the long days of rain and fog, enlivened by harvest rites, wine, and late-ripening fruits decorating our tables. The evenings are marked by festive gatherings, but also by fear: in autumn, the dead and monsters are always eager to re-appear. Yet the most beautiful autumn is the intimate, furtive one, fed by childhood memories, spent in some faraway woodland, set ablaze by red and yellow leaves.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 276 ISBN 978-88-15-29059-5 publication year 2020

Alessandro Vanoli is an expert on Mediterranean history.

Miscellaneous

’23

Alessandro Vanoli

Winter

A Tale of Expectation Surrounded by silence, we find comfort in the heat of a fire. This is the age-old story of the season when nature holds its breath.

Telling the story of winter means speaking about a primeval part of human history: the Ice Age, the struggle for survival, the idea of rebirth connected to the ancient myths and festivals. Winter is the season of suspension, both in agriculture and in war. It is one of the most powerful times of the year, punctuated by religious rites and by the hope of renewal which they express.

As it follows winter through the centuries, this book focuses on hunters, diseases, exhausting military retreats, and the chill of monasteries, but also on enchanted beings hidden in the heart of the earth, to long vigils before the fire in a context of domestic intimacy. Winter: a muffled white interval, both festive and deadly, which continues to stimulate our imagination.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 224 ISBN 978-88-15-27825-8 publication year 2018

Contents: Introduction: Let me tell you the story of winter. – The Origins of Winter. – The first winter on earth. – The Mediterranean winter of the Greeks and Romans. – When heaven darkens: the monasteries. – The birth of Christ in the heart of winter. – The arrival of the Magi. – The winter of war. – The invention of the nativity. – Carnival: death and rebirth. – Modern Winter. – The Little Ice Age. – Luther, St Nicholas and the Christmas Tree. – A brief history of the colour white. – Flemish winter. – Becoming ill. – The Islamic world and winter. – Getting dressed. – The cold as an ally: Russia. – The winter of geographical discoveries. – The charm of Venice and Vivaldi. – The Winter of Intimacy and Waiting. – The Russian spirit and General Winter. – Flowers of ice: Goethe and Andersen. – The sound of winter. – White Christmas. – When winter began to warm up. – Silver ice-skates. – The snows of the East. – Painting emotions. – In search of extreme winter: the conquest of the poles. – The sergeant in the snow. – Winter sports. – On the other side of the world. – The invention of Father Christmas. – What’s left of winter. – At the end of the story. – Books, stories and people behind winter.

Alessandro Vanoli is an expert on Mediterranean history.

World Spanish rights sold.

Miscellaneous

’23

Gabriele D’Angelo, Giampiero Giacomello

Cybersecurity

What It Is and How It Works «Cyberspace» and «cybersecurity» have become familiar terms. Many people comprehend that, in some way, cybersecurity has to do with passwords and software updates. Perhaps fewer are aware that is also involves spam and phishing. Hardly anyone knows about a/symmetric key encryption, zero-days and ATPs (Advanced Persistent Threats). This is quite understandable: cyberspace and the digitalisation processes currently transpiring in all areas of society and the economy do not lend themselves to straightforward comprehension. This book addresses issues ranging from the confidentiality of communications and personal data to elections via the Internet, from cybercrime and cyberterrorism to cyberweapons and cyberwarfare. The authors aim to help readers grasp the transformations ensuing from digitalisation and the key role played by cybersecurity.

series «Universale Paperbacks il Mulino» pp. 180 ISBN 978-88-15-38365-5 publication year 2023

Gabriele D’Angelo teaches Cybersecurity at the Cesena campus of the University of Bologna.

Giampiero Giacomello teaches Cybersecurity and Cybercrime at the University of Bologna.

Politics

’23

Valentina Rita Scotti

Erdoğan’s Turkey One hundred years after its foundation, Turkey finds itself having to choose between the consolidation of democracy and the affirmation of authoritarianism. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the country’s president, and his Justice and Development Party (AKP), a religion-inspired party that has held power for 20 years, are pursuing the construction of a «new» country in exchange for a progressive centralization of power. How are they carrying out this project? Which ruptures and which continuities are they promoting? At the cost of what constitutional encroachments? Bringing together the history and the institutions of the Turkish state, this book explains the potential development of a country that is crucial in terms of size, geopolitical location and relations with the European continent.

series «Universale Paperbacks il Mulino» pp. 168 ISBN 978-88-15-29544-6 publication year 2022

Valentina Rita Scotti teaches Comparative Public Law at the European Law and Governance School (ELGS) of the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) in Greece. She has taught Constitutional Law and Gender-Based Discrimination and Law at the Law School of Koç University in Istanbul, where she is a member of the Centre for Gender Studies (KOÇ-KAM).

Politics

’23

Maurizio Scarpari

China in Focus

Imperial Ideology and World Disorder What are the historical and cultural reasons, the internal dynamics and the external influences behind the Chinese model of power, considered by Xi Jinping to be superior to that of liberal democracies? In order to answer this question one needs to link current events to Chinese imperial history. Indeed, Xi plans to restore the central role played by China on the world stage and re-establish the status it enjoyed for millennia before the arrival of Western powers. The ongoing struggle will play out in the economic and political spheres, but also involve culture and values. China’s efforts challenge liberal principles, i.e., the very basis of democracies. By proposing a new international order against the one created by the victors of World War II, Xi’s China offers itself as an alternative to the United States and forces the West to re-assess not only its democratic political systems, but the cultural identities of its civilisations. Will the new, future order survive this clash with history? Or will chaos prevail, plunging the world into a conflict of planetary dimensions?

series «Contemporanea» pp. 260 ISBN 978-88-15-38755-4 publication year 2023

Maurizio Scarpari formerly taught Classical Chinese at the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice.

Politics

’23

Francesco Strazzari

The Ukraine Frontier

War, Geopolitics and International Order The war in Ukraine will be a protracted conflict which, as it continues to be fought, will undergo extensive changes and affect both macro-regional equilibria and international relations. Based on this hypothesis, the author contributes to the wider debate on the effects of war on world government. The book explores some key facets of the conflict, primarily the ideological dimension, and then focuses on the dynamics of weaponry (both conventional and non-conventional), the political solutions under discussion in the negotiation processes, the underlying tensions between national sovereignty and identity, European identity in relation to the enlargement of the European Union, Russia’s economic profile, the positioning of the «rest of the world», geostrategic competition in a multipolar landscape, and, finally, on the latent issue of peace. A complex framework emerges, in which it is not easy to find one’s bearings. The author provides a conceptual map allowing readers to develop their own understandings of the facts.

series «Contemporanea» pp. 232 ISBN 978-88-15-29984-0 publication year 2022

Francesco Strazzari teaches International Relations at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa and also teaches at the same city’s Scuola Normale Superiore and the Johns Hopkins University.

Politics

’23

Massimiano Bucchi

Digital Intimacy

Vices and Virtues of Innovation New technologies pervade and shape our everyday gestures, personal relationships and ways of life. We are all accustomed to receiving personal messages from web giants and virtual assistants and often receive stylised kisses and hugs in texts from people we don’t really know all that well. If a friend looks at his smartphone during lunch, we are immediately tempted to do the same. We take advantage of the many tutorials made available on Internet for a range of activities, from repairing sun-blinds to setting up a barbecue or baking bread at home. At the same time, many technologies considered dead or obsolete – such as landline telephones and vinyl records – cyclically make a comeback and again become parts of our lives. Focusing on practical situations and typically unconscious habits, the book lays bare our relationship with technological innovation and the spirit of our time.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 176 ISBN 978-88-15-29836-2 publication year 2023

Massimiano Bucchi teaches Science, Technology and Society at the University of Trento.

Science

’23

Maurizio Casiraghi

More and More Alone

On the Verge of the Sixth Extinction What is the common thread connecting the sad Najin and Fatu (the last two female northern white rhinos), Lonesome George (a solitary giant tortoise), the Tasmanian wolf and the great auk? They are all central characters of what has been defned the «sixth mass extinction». According to current estimates, 99.9% of our planet’s species have already disappeared. Whereas the previous «big fve» mass extinctions were caused by great natural disasters, in today’s Anthropocene era it’s humans – the «overbearing species» – who are to blame for withering biodiversity. This responsibility cannot be denied, and this book’s author, a passionate zoologist, does not attempt to do so. With extraordinary narrative ability, he involves readers in poignant and revealing stories and fervid calls to action. It’s up to us to change our attitudes towards the planet and its guests and to ensure that we can continue to inhabit it. A world without pandas is not only less beautiful, but risks being an increasingly less hospitable place for us: we are all connected, and only together can we be saved.

series «Intersezioni» pp. 248 ISBN 978-88-15-38332-7 publication year 2023

Maurizio Casiraghi teaches Zoology and Evolution at the Bicocca University in Milan.

Science

’23

Alessandro Lanza

Rainbow Energy

Does the Future Belong to Hydrogen?

Climate change and the war in Ukraine have conferred special urgency to the issue of «energy transition», an expression that indicates the need for mitigation strategies concerning our civilization’s carbon dioxide emissions. Among these strategies, indeed at their forefront, is hydrogen. Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not an energy source, a molecule that is abundant in nature but only when combined with other atoms. Its production is as varied as the colours of the rainbow: black if extracted from coal, brown from lignite, green from renewable sources, and even turquoise, blue, grey, pink or yellow. What are the differences between these «coloured hydrogens»? How do diverse production methods affect the economic and environmental costs of rainbow energy and therefore its applicability?

What are the real prospects for the use of hydrogen in the immediate and more remote future?

series «Universale Paperbacks il Mulino» pp. 136 ISBN 978-88-15-38362-4 publication year 2023

Alessandro Lanza heads the ENI Enrico Mattei Foundation and teaches Energy and Environmental Policy at the Guido Carli Free International University of Social Studies (LUISS) and the LUISS Business School in Rome.

He was formerly chief economist at ENI, chief executive officer at the ENI Corporate University and principal administrator at the International Energy Agency (Energy and Environment Division).

Science

’23

Anna Silvia Bombi, Daniele Malaguti

The Right to Boredom Finding the Time to Think

Boredom is an emotion that is usually judged negatively. Widespread among other animals besides humans, boredom is extensively feared and was experienced intensely during the recent pandemic lockdowns. Is it possible to «learn» a better way to be bored? Is being afraid of boredom a wake-up call? Are some people more vulnerable to boredom than others? Should one make an effort to avoid boredom? Besides addressing many questions such as these, this book shows readers how boredom varies across different life stages and how to manage this emotion, experience it in a mindful manner, and even exploit it to achieve benefits and well-being. The time of boredom is also the time that allows us to connect with what we carry deep inside ourselves and identify with whom we are, not just with what we do.

series «Farsi un’idea» pp. 176 ISBN 978-88-15-38353-2 publication year 2023

Anna Silvia Bombi formerly taught Developmental and Educational Psychology at the Sapienza University in Rome.

Daniele Malaguti , a work and organizational psychologist and a psychotherapist, teaches Psychological and Social Fundamentals of Social Services at the University of Trento.

Series «Farsi un’idea»

’23

Gabriele Ferretti

Running and Ultra Running Will We All Be Ultra Marathon Runners?

Running seems to be an extremely pragmatic act, but it conceals mental and existential dimensions that are as profound as the distance covered is long. And so, in contemporary society, running ultra- distances has become a unique form of expression for humans, who put their bodies to the test and seek to silence their minds.

This book answers the need to explain the great revolution of ultramarathons and addresses the underlying anthropological changes, involving evolutionary biology, psychology, neuroscience and existential philosophy.

series «Farsi un’idea» pp. 168 ISBN 978-88-15-38355-6 publication year 2023

Gabriele Ferretti is a Humboldt Fellow at the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany.

Series «Farsi un’idea»

’23

Andrea Goldstein

The Power of Global Football

Economics, Politics, and the Beautiful Game Like all clichés, the saying that football is too important a game to be left to a few billion spectators who passionately attend the matches contain a grain of truth.

The sport features players who earn millions of dollars, teams that embody the values of their local communities, African kids who supply the football proletariat, influential federation leaders who wield more power than government ministers, billionaires who buy clubs to curry favour with public opinion, and stadiums that transform urban landscapes. The author examines football players, institutions and venues, combining statistics, anecdotes and analyses. The planet’s most beloved sport is far from immune from the evils of the contemporary world, yet it remains the most «beautiful game» in the world.

series «Farsi un’idea» pp. 168 ISBN 978-88-15-29189-9 publication year 2022

Andrea Goldstein works at an international organization in Paris and is a founding member of the association Minima Moralia M&M. World Spanish rights sold.

Series «Farsi un’idea»

’23

Andrea Stracciari, Angelo Fioritti

Nostalgia

A Resource for Our Well-Being Every day we experience nostalgia for both the past and our imagined future. This feeling affects our relationships, our well-being – even our consumer behaviour. What is nostalgia and how does it work? Why is it so important? Both sweet and bitter, instinctual and rational, nostalgia diminishes the world’s unpredictability and mitigates our sense of loneliness. During the most challenging moments of our lives and as we transition from one age to another, nostalgia helps provide continuity to our existence.

series «Farsi un’idea» pp. 160 ISBN 978-88-15-38360-0 publication year 2023

Andrea Stracciari was formerly a chief neurologist at the Sant’Orsola-Malpighi University General Hospital in Bologna and taught Neurology and Behaviour at the University of Bologna.

Angelo Fioritti was formerly a chief psychiatrist in the public health service’s department of mental health in Bologna and taught Social Psychiatry in that city’s university. He currently presides over Italy’s National Council of Mental Health Departments.

Series «Farsi un’idea»

’23

il Mulino

SOCIETÀ EDITRICE IL MULINO Strada Maggiore, 37 40125 Bologna tel. 051256011 – fax 051256034 www.mulino.it FOREIGN RIGHTS Paola Pecchioli paola.pecchioli@mulino.it https://www.mulino.it/foreignrights http://twitter.com/#!/Mulinorights

Graphics and layout: Daniela Riso