Book excerpt: 'This is the first account in English of the making of Italian nationhood from the perspective of constitutional history. It is also the first to consider the role that the House of Savoy played in this process. Bringing together influential experts in the field, the collection covers the evolution of the Italian constitution from Russian diplomacy’s little-known planning of the Risorgimento to the monarchy’s demise after its clashes with fascism. Combining systematic coverage with original research, the volume includes such varied themes as the king’s role in the Italian wars of independence, the Italian peninsula’s forgotten charters of 1848, and the story of the ephemeral building that housed the first Italian parliament. Contributors are: Carolina Armenteros, Andrea Ungari, Paolo Colombo, Frans Willem Lantink, Christian Satto, Giulio Stolfi, Valentina Villa, Tommaso Zerbi, and Romano Ferrari Zumbini.