Scenes from a Roman Century

Hollywood film stars, fascist assassins. Bombs on San Lorenzo, la dolce vita on Via Veneto. Baroque fountains, umbrella pines. Urban planning, unregulated house-building. After half a century living in Rome, David Lane turns his eye on events and streetscapes in the Eternal City over the past 100 years. Scenes from a Roman Century begins with the 1924 murder of Giacomo Matteottithe beginning of the end for interwar democracyand ends with the organised crime and political violence of our own era. It sketches Romes growth under Mussolinis dictatorship, and its fortunes during the Second World War; the economic miracle of the post-war decades; and Romes latest transformations through the turn of the millennium. Lane sends readers meandering down the alleys, out towards the suburbs and to stand before the monumental architecture, capturing cultural and political moments from Romes past and present. He explores fascisms material legacy across the city, terrorism and political extremism on the right and left, and the struggle to manage economic growths burdensugly urban sprawl, and the crush of mass tourism in the historic centre. As pilgrims descend for the 2025 jubilee declared by Pope Francis, what is next for this ever-changing city of history?