In short, pointed anecdotes and episodes, Alberto Nessi recounts the sad life and wild rebellion of Tonio Boldini, who fought for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War; of women who resisted the harsh working conditions in the tobacco factories of the early 20th century with strikes; of the famines of the mid-19th century and how 300 men, led by Mattirolo, rose from the valleys to the plains to open the warehouses to the poor. These narratives are poetry, as dense and colorful as they can be, and history, as harsh and educational as it was for the common people. Against the loss of history, Alberto Nessi presents his sober tales; they are a necessary reminder.