The Twilight of Rome's Papal Nobility

"An intimate memorial to Agnese, who became wife, mother, and matriarch of a Roman aristocratic family in the tumultuous decades between the mid-nineteenth and the early twentieth century. From memoir to wider family history, Ugo's account intertwines the fate of the Boncompagni Ludovisi with the making of a new unified Italy. Cofone's translation captures the spirit of the now vanishing world of Roman aristocratic culture." -- Caroline Castiglione * author of Accounting for Affection: Mothering and Politics in Early Modern Rome *
"Cofone's translation offers an extraordinary glimpse into the lives and mental world of the nineteenth-century Roman aristocracy—intensely Catholic but increasingly international and, from a social position of certainty that would prove mistaken, intellectually curious. The economic ups and downs of the Boncompagni Ludovisi family, an astoundingly rich papal family which would topple from its great height by the end of the century, are the backdrop for marital alliances and travels, and the life of Agnese Borghese Boncompagni Ludovisi as written by her son was, in its own way, a gigantic adventure in which we can now participate." -- Anthony Majanlahti * author of The Families who Made Rome: A History and a Guide *

"The Twilight of Rome’s Papal Nobility filters Agnese Borghese Boncompagni Ludovisi's life through the eyes of her son and biographer, Ugo. The exceptional encounters both she and the family at large had with elite members of the religious and secular establishment are combined with touching episodes of everyday life events. The biography exists at the crossroads of Italy's remarkable history, including Ugo's musings on the Risorgimento and the expropriation of his family's Villa Ludovisi, making Cofone's translation a truly fascinating read.”

-- Pierette Kulpa * associate professor of art history at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania *