Dedication
To
That Spirit of Italy
Which Calls to Men in All Lands
Like the Charmed Voice of
Their Own History
Note
There is no history more alternately desperate and hopeful than that of the scattered Italian states in their efforts to form a united nation. Many forces fuse in the progress of such a popular movement, and each force has its own particular spokesman or leader. The prophet and the soldier, the poet and the statesman, each gives his share of genius. Those men who seemed to represent the most potent forces in this history are included here.