Italians and the art of illusion

The Italians. By John Hooper. Allen Lane, €25. Reviewed by Jonathan O’Brien.

Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-winning 2014 film La Grande Bellezza

‘The nationality that speaks without sound,” sighed Barry Davies of the BBC, a little pompously, while commentating on one of Italy’s matches during the 2002 World Cup. Davies’s genteel hackles had ...