Garibaldi and England
Garibaldi came to England on a brief visit in 1864 and provided inspiration and a battle-cry for English radicalism. Yet in the 100 years since his death, argues John A. Davis, his image has mellowed into that of a liberal hero.
Giuseppe Garibaldi, the great popular hero of Italian Unification, died on June 2nd, 1882. Even in a century that lionised its heroes few ever achieved a fame comparable to Garibaldi, or would see that fame survive into the twentieth century. His exploits in Italy, in France in defence of the Republic in 1871 and earlier in South America had earned him the title 'Hero of the Two Worlds' and made him a household name on both sides of the Atlantic. Russian peasants carried his icon; Balkan revolutionaries waited for him to lead them; both sides in the American Civil War tried to enlist him – and the English paid their peculiarly idiosyncratic tribute by immortalising his name in blouses and biscuits.
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