The resulting programme was aired in 2010 in four episodes and was called Vieni via con me (Come Away With Me). My TV monologues form the basis for the chapters in this book. The series was a sort of TV revolution: aired on Raitre (the third national channel) against the will of and with no support from the network’s highest executives. Despised by the government, it became a huge public success, the most viewed programme in the history of Raitre.

‘To see what is in front of one’s nose,’ George Orwell wrote, ‘needs a constant struggle.’ More than five years have passed since the series was aired, and after three successive governments there remains a certainty: nothing has really changed. Or better, what remains is a sense of impotence: now that Silvio Berlusconi is not presiding over Italy any more, now that we have a new, young and left-wing government, we are silenced by hope and disappointed by reality.

Even if some parts of the mudslinging machine appear to have been dismantled, it continues to operate, silently, ready to spring into action whenever it is needed. Worse still, there has been absolutely no progress in terms of the fundamental legislation that would strengthen Italy’s democracy. A natural disaster can still offer a good opportunity to those who want to siphon off public money, and key civil rights, like the recognition of same-sex unions and laws regarding the end of life, are still not guaranteed. As such, this book is as representative of Italy today as it was five years ago. The Lega Nord continues to exert considerable political pressure, and the government lacks the unity and strength to implement the reforms that the country really needs. Italy remains a two-speed country: the North attracts most of the investment and the South, lacking in infrastructure, is left to the most dangerous of enterprises: criminal organizations.