About the Book Fumo illuminates the rich socio-economic history of twentieth-century Italy by following the cigarettes diffusion across class and gender boundaries, navigation of imperialism, Wars, Fascism, and 1970s protest movements to its eventual decline in recent decades. Book Synopsis Fumo illuminates the rich socio-economic history of twentieth-century Italy by following the cigarettes diffusion across class and gender boundaries, navigation of imperialism, Wars, Fascism, and 1970s protest movements to its eventual decline in recent decades. Review Quotes As in the best historical works, a single aspect of the past is able to illuminate a very large picture....Written in a brilliant and captivating style while maintaining strict methodological rigor, this work is a fine example of cultural history and, at the same time, a model of style and method.--Emanuela Scarpellini, American Historical Review Carl Ipsen, Professor of History at Indiana University, has written an absorbing social history of modern Italy as seen through the nations smoking habits...Much of Carl Ipsens diverting, well-researched book discusses the role of cigarettes in Italian literature.--Ian Thomson, The Times Literary Supplement Many histories of smoking are either overly judgmental of the tobacco industry or they give too much weight to the sublime qualities of smoking. Admirably, Ipsen remains neutral in his reporting of smokings history in Italy, not wishing to judge or rationalize.--Carol Helstosky, The Journal of Modern History Fumo tells a fascinating tale about smoking, health, and risk during Italys cigarette century. Ipsen effectively integrates a variety of approaches and source material into crafting a narrative that concentrates on those aspects of Italys tobacco history that are uniquely Italian, yet situated within a broader context, as illustrated by references to developments in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany...scholars interested in the histories of Italy, smoking, and public health will find Fumo a valuable contribution to their respective fields of study.--Kraig Larkin, EuropeNow A compelling picture of how one of the most widely consumed intoxicants of the twentieth century shaped Italian social life and cultural expression.--Mary Neuburger, University of Texas at Austin. An intoxicating combination of cultural, social, economic, gender, and political history, Fumo tells the fascinating history of smoking in Italy, providing new insights into Italys transformation over the course of the twentieth century. Delightfully told, it is, like the cigarette itself, hard to put down once begun.--David I. Kertzer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Pope and Mussolini About the Author Carl Ipsen is Professor of History at Indiana University. He is the author of Italy in the Age of Pinocchio: Children and Danger in the Liberal Era (2006) and Dictating Demography: The Problem of Population in Fascist Italy (1996).