Writing for a general audience with no prior knowledge of the topic, Mignone (director of the Center for Italian Studies, Stony Brook U.) presents a textbook on the evolution of Italy since World War II. He includes four separate sections on Italy's politics and government, economics and social transformation, society, and communications and cultural changes. Within these sections he addresses political and social foundations, constitutional transformation, state security, US-Italian relations, industrial change and social transformation, north-south regional issues, migration and social transformation, the education system, the ebbing of Catholic influence over state and society, tradition and change with the family, women and gender relations, cultural modernization, and communications and cultural consumption. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)