This is Tim Parks' particular reckoning with his beloved adopted country. In all areas of public life your connections are everything. Unfolding into a story of power and corruption, influence and exclusion, Tim Parks' compelling new book shows that an education is about understanding the workings of a society - in this case one where family, culture and innovation are shadowed by nepotism, bureaucracy and intrigue. A behind-the-scenes look at a paradoxical country: a gripping account of how Italy actually happens.