This book examines the works of six major political theorists of modern Italy - Pareto, Mosca, Labriola, Croce, Gentile and Gramsci - as well as the work of three of the most important contemporary thinkers - della Volpe, Bobbio and Colletti. In each case Richard Bellamy relates the thinker's analysis of Italian society to the particular ideology he espoused, and explores the links between social theory and political practice.