Between Hollywood and Moscow

“A cogent, insightful investigation of the cultural activities of the PCI (Partito Comunista Italiano) from 1943 until the dissolution of the party in 1991. . . . A well-argued, intelligent, and engaging book. Gundle’s Between Hollywood and Moscow is a most valuable addition to the bibliography of students and scholars of twentieth-century Italian culture. Moreover, because this book is focused on the problematic response of the Italian left to the process of Americanization, it is likely to appeal to those interested in mapping the complex relationships that have occurred as a result of intercultural encounters, and will continue to emerge as a result of increasing forces of globalization.” - Norma Bouchard, Annali d'Italianistica

“Gundle’s analysis is well documented and persuasively argued.” - Mario Del Pero Journal of American History

“The book is an original contribution to knowledge based on a prodigious amount of research. . . . A significant achievement.” - Stephen Hellman , International History Review

"A comprehensive account of the cultural policies of the Italian Communist Party. This is a very useful book containing much relevant information on a surprisingly under-researched topic." - Donald Sassoon , Modern Italy

"An admirable achievement . . . An important contribution to the comprehension both of Italian communism and of Italian cultural developments in the crucial period of the second half of the twentieth century." - Rebecca West , Journal of Modern History

"Gundle . . . provides a useful overview of the richness of the party's culture, both high and low, and of the sometimes ingenious but all too often inadequate strategies whereby the PCI's leaders attempted to use cultural projects to increase the party's membership and its strength at the ballot box." - Nadia Zonis , H-Net Reviews

“Stephen Gundle's book is a highly original contribution to our knowledge of the culture and politics of modern Italy, combining as it does theoretical sophistication with extensive empirical research.” - Paul Ginsborg, Universita degli Studi di Firenze

“Between Hollywood and Moscow is an outstanding work that treats the effects of modernization and the development of a mass consumer society in Italy in an original and illuminating manner. It restores a sense of the importance of culture as an integral part of political strategizing and communicates the shifting meanings of culture over four decades of Italian history.” - Ruth Ben-Ghiat, New York University

“Between Hollywood and Moscow makes an original contribution to the study of the PCI and post-war Italy in general from a cultural point of view, and reveals the importance of specific cultural strategies and transformations in the political history of the PCI.” - John Dickie, University College, London