There will also be interventions from Professor Richard Holt (De Montfort University, UK) and Angela Teja Universita Foro Italico, Roma)

Sport Italia traces the highs and lows of Italy’s history from its Liberal pioneers to Mussolini’s blackshirted Boys, and an Olympic recovery to the rise of Berlusconia. A marathon journey involving heroic defeats, national triumphs, canonised cyclists and sporting Popes, it unveils the drug dealers, fraudsters, terrorists and politicians that have also tarnished its name. Showing sport’s capacity to both unite and deeply divide, Sport Italia’s delve into the heart, soul, workshops and medicine cabinets of the nation reveals just how Italians turned from peasants into sportsmen.

All welcome, refreshments to follow.