This book is an important contribution to modern Italian history, particularly to the period of the Risorgimento and to the recent historiography concerning it. In addition, and perhaps more importantly for readers of Utilitas, the book is also a study in intellectual history that is concerned with the development of liberalism and nationalism during the first third of the nineteenth century. Isabella examines in detail a small number of Italian intellectuals and soldiers, who became exiles from Italy in the post-Napoleonic period. They might be described intellectually as children of the French Revolution and, eventually, of British liberalism. They transmitted liberal ideas through their writings to Italy. This disparate group also became involved in revolutionary struggles in Spain, Portugal, Spanish America, Greece and elsewhere in Europe. The theme of exile is crucial to the book, though it is not one that will be pursued in this review. Our concern here is with the development of liberalism on its own and in relation to nationalism as part of emerging political doctrines of this period. In the 1820s liberalism became a major ideology and the Italian exiles contributed to this process by their active participation in the struggles mentioned above as well as by their writings on numerous aspects of politics and economics which appeared at this time. I first encountered Alerino Palma di Cesnola and Giuseppe Pecchio, for example, as participants in the Greek struggle for independence and as exotic residents in England, but Isabella brings them to life as Italian patriots in exile from their homeland. Both were well-known British radicals and also mixed in other circles in England at this time.

It is difficult to generalize about the views of the Italian exiles, as they were highly diverse figures from different backgrounds, but what held them together was the fact of exile and their patriotism. In contrast, the British radicals, equally diverse, though not exiles, were highly critical of their own country and sought to develop their ‘liberal opinions’ (Bentham's phrase) for all countries that were interested in them. One might say that the Italian exiles addressed themselves mainly to Italy, while the Benthamite radicals addressed themselves to liberalism. The Italian exiles created an Italian liberalism which they exported to Italy. The Benthamite radicals created several versions of liberalism itself which they exported to the world. The Italian exiles based liberalism on patriotism and nationalism. The Benthamite radicals brought into sharp contrast liberalism and nationalism. A fair number of the London Greek Committee thought of liberalism as a civilizing force, based on freedom of the press, free trade, free elections and opposition to nationalist views. The Italian exiles admired many traditional British institutions and practices, which could accompany their liberalism. The Benthamite radicals aimed precisely at the destruction of these traditional institutions (e.g. monarchy, aristocracy, a restricted franchise, a civil service based on patronage, established church, restrictions on trade, etc.) to advance the cause of liberalism as a system of practical freedom and constitutional rule.

Isabella attempts to sum up the liberalism of the Italian exiles as follows:

This summation of the views of the Italian exiles points to a ‘moderate’ liberalism, which seems to have been established on the basis of an eclectic combination of modern and traditional views. One supposes that the moderation arises from support for traditional institutions strongly opposed by Benthamite radicals. Bentham and his followers looked for moderation elsewhere – in their liberalism itself and through their utilitarianism. Isabella neglects the theme of utility in his book, and despite numerous references to ‘republicanism’, I have seen only one reference in passing to ‘Bentham and the English utilitarians’ (p. 26). This neglect might well reflect the writings of many of the Italian exiles themselves, though Cesare Beccaria's work on crime and punishment became an inspiration to many early utilitarians in Britain and France. More probably, the issues surrounding the utility principle were embedded in the highly important writings on political economy which feature prominently in Isabella's book. We see this emphasis on political economy in the writings of the Italian exiles themselves, the important development of political economy from Adam Smith, of which they were clearly aware, and the importance given to the assessment of ‘English commercial society’ in this period.

If one looks forward a few decades, one can see in J. S. Mill's utilitarianism a moderate liberalism, based on political economy, one that was widely recognized and remarked upon, but also one which did not depend on a belief in the validity of traditional institutions to sustain the moderation. He was able to see how moderation could arise from a progressive liberalism itself through the use of contraries to define and develop policies and positions (see, for example, ‘Bentham’ and ‘Coleridge’). Moderation came from an appreciation of the nature of historical change and both the possibilities of and limitations on what one generation could teach the succeeding generation. Mill developed a powerful strand of thought which became identified with liberalism in the 1830s. Not all of this doctrine seems to have been translated into those developed for Italy by the Italian exiles. However, Isabella has written a complex and challenging volume on the development of liberalism, not simply in Italy or even for Italy. It ranks as an important study of liberalism as an emerging European ideology in the post-Napoleonic era. One might simply add that the connection between liberalism and utilitarianism should not be underestimated.