"Ravishing Harmony":: Defining Risorgimento in Margaret Fuller¿s Dispatches from Italy to the New York Tribune, 1847 to 1850

This is a fresh perspective on Margaret Fuller and her Risorgimento, and Italian women¿s role beyond Rome, contesting the current scholarly reception of her dispatches, largely Rome-centered. ¿No one else has probed the last phase of Fuller¿s career as closely as Jo has. Not only has the author delved into the politics and philosophies, the intellectuals and revolutionaries of the Italian Revolution, but she has examined minutiae, which throw significant light on rhetorical stances and purposes. The more readers know about Fuller¿s career and the attending scholarship the more they will appreciate the material and discoveries Jo¿s work proffers. Jo treats Fuller on Fuller¿s own terms, providing a philosophical framework. Most recent Fuller scholarship tends to a sociological approach¿but Jo¿s work, like Fuller¿s, turns to philosophy as a basis for praxis, as when Fuller justifies her revolutionary commitment by invoking idealistic philosophy.¿ ¿I have been very favorably impressed with Jo¿s handling of the literary and historical research resources written in Italian. This work has been scholarly and thorough.¿ Henry Golemba, Louis Kibler (Professors of English and Italian, WSU).