Books by Carlo Ginzburg

Historian Carlo Ginzburg here draws on his work on witchcraft trials in the 16th and 17th centuries to dissect the weaknesses and contradictions of the state's case in the late-20th century political show trial of Italian communists, Continua, Sofri, Bompressi and Piotresetafani.

Preface and third chapter translated from the Italian by Anne C. Tedeschi and John Tedeschi.

Carlo Ginzburg's brilliant and timely new essay collection takes a bold stand against naive positivism and allegedly sophisticated neo-skepticism. It looks deeply into questions raised by decades of post-structuralism: What constitutes historical truth? How do we draw a boundary between truth and fiction? What is the relationship between history and memory? How do we grapple with the historical conventions that inform, in different ways, all written documents? In his answers, Ginzburg peels away layers of subsequent readings and interpretations that envelop every text to make a larger argument about history and fiction. Interwoven with compelling autobiographical references, Threads and Traces bears moving witness to Ginzburg's life as a European Jew, the abiding strength of his scholarship, and his deep engagement with the historian's craft.

A world-renowned historian presents a series of four brilliant forays into English literature, from Sir Thomas More to Robert Louis Stevenson.