Antonio Gramsci

Life of a Revolutionary

By: Giuseppe Fiori, Tom Nairn - translator

Narrated by: Tim Bruce

Antonio Gramsci was born in Sardinia in 1891, became the leader of the Italian Communist Party in his early 30s, was arrested by Mussolini’s police in 1927, and remained imprisoned until shortly before his death 10 years later. The posthumous publication of his Prison Notebooks established him as a major thinker whose influence continues to increase.

Fiori’s biography enlarges upon the facts of Gramsci’s life through personal accounts, and through Gramsci’s own writings to relatives and friends. In relating Gramsci’s growth as a political leader and theorist to his private experience, it offers acute insights into his involvement in the factory councils movement. It examines his relationship with political opponents, including Mussolini, and with his comrades within the Communist Party before and during Gramsci’s imprisonment. It is an approach which seeks to explicate, as well as underscore, the substantial achievement of one of the most important figures in Western Marxism.

©1965 Laterza New Left Books 1970 (P)2021 Audible, Inc.

Getting to know the human behind the ideas

There was some hint of the nature of Gramsci's massive contribution to revolutionary ideology but a bit more might have been good... still now I can read the Prison Notebooks in a new way, imagining the writer behind the words

Antonio Gramsci

Admittedly, I knew very little about Antonio Gramsci, but his name came up in conversation, and I felt the need to learn more. You have any interest in socialism or more so in Marxism, Gramsci is someone who you should get to know. He led a short life, thanks to fascism, but lasted long enough to put forth a number of divergent and still relevant theories. Worth checking out for sure.
Well narrated too!

Great story of Gramsci’s personal life

Loved the letters pieced together in chronological order. Almost as if you heard him talk face to face with who he wrote his letters to.

Well written and well narrated

This an excellent introduction to the life and work of one of the most important thinkers of the last century. It gives context to Gramsci’s struggles against fascism and helps clarify the environment where he operated. Great place to start while reading his published works or the prison notebooks.

Socialism

Not what I expected. Looking for his strategy on changing a culture into socialism