Abstract

These two volumes, amounting to a total of nearly one thousand pages, deal with a city that, on the author's own admission, never existed. But Grandazzi is fully aware of the apparent absurdity of the enterprise and is not above the occasional moment of self-mockery. Towards the end of the first volume, he quotes Sir William Gell, writing in 1834: "It having appeared to many, that the whole history of the place is a romance, more attention has been bestowed upon Alba than it may perhaps seem to require." The irony is deliberate, and comes easily to an author who is in full control of his material and knows exactly what he is doing; and it may be said at once that his confidence in the value of the project is fully justified. This huge book is a huge achievement.