Despite the beauty of Southern Italy, a book studying the Camorra shows it is a place of contradictions

Far from being democratically sound, grand coalitions foster short-termism and reinforce more extreme parties’ power of veto.

The over-generous Italian welfare state means that for all the belt-tightening, most people in the country still enjoy la dolce vita

The euro would never have got off the ground if it had been put to national referendums, nor would the bailouts or austerity plans