Example history dissertation topic 11:

Cavour, Garibaldi and the unification of Italy

The process of Italian unification was a complex one and, though the state of Italy is perceived to have been born in 1871, the process of unification was not completed until the early years of the twentieth century. With reference to the period of primary unification the competing (and complimentary) roles of Cavour and Garibaldi are paramount and whether or not unification was primarily the result of Piedmontese expansion under Cavour or primarily as a result of the military successes of garibaldi remains a hotly contested historical question. This dissertation uses a range of primary as well as secondary sources.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Beales, D. and Biagini, E. (2003) The Risorgimento and the unification of Italy (2nd edn). London: Longman.
• Davis, J.A. (ed.) (2000) Italy in the nineteenth century: 1796-1900. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• De Cesare, R. (1909) The last days of Papal Rome. London: Archibald Constable & Co.