Gabriele D'Annunzio

Gabriele D'Annunzio, `Gabriel of the Annunciation', shocked and dazzled early twentieth-century Europe with his sexual exploits, military feats, and political escapades. In a blaze of self-publicity, these activities provided material for his fiery journalism and stunning literary creations. French translations of his scandalous novels first exposed Europe to his genius, but his roots lay deep in his native soil. A pivotal presence in the evolution of Italian politics, literature, society,and taste, he rarely allowed his name to fall from the public gaze during forty critical years, and more than any other Italian since the unification of his country, he casts a shadow forwards to the present day. His literary achievements have influenced generations of Italian writers. This biography is the first fully-documented appraisal of this extraordinary man's career, making use of previously unpublished manuscripts and new source material, and maintaining a degree of objectivity never previously seen in Dannunzian scholarship.