In the now distant past extraordinary women and men worked to assert ideas and dreams in places where new times were taking shape. Re-reading their lives Ernesto Galli della Loggia brings to light decisive and neglected figures and episodes of the Italian history. As in the case of the Bandiera brothers and Don Tazzoli, subtracted from the "mothballs of conventional patriotism" to retrace that hidden Risorgimento "little or no liberal, much less democratic”.

«Most think of the Risorgimento today as a "remote event duly embalmed by school textbooks." ... Almost no one imagines it was an era of genuine passions, of people willing to put their lives on the line for ideals. And if someone sees it that way, he then has difficulty explaining what made the spread of such intense passions possible. Why? Ernesto Galli della Loggia wondered about this as he came across characters like Attilio and Emilio Bandiera, the first of the 'eight Italian lives' he deals with in an interesting and passionate book given to print by Marsilio. ... Galli della Loggia's essay affirms the need to measure ourselves against the strong thoughts and consequent actions of a generation that was ready to sacrifice itself to achieve the unity and independence of the homeland». Paolo Mieli, Corriere della Sera