This book examines Anglo-Italian political and cultural relations in the years of the ''Roman Question'', and it analyses the impact and importance of religion in the construction of a British ''Orientalist'' perception of Italy. It focuses on the British and Foreign Bible Society''s attempts to turn Italy into a Protestant nation, showing how perceived shortcomings in the national character of the Italians convinced the British that such ''Protestantisation'' was necessary if Italy was ever to achieve nationhood. Their efforts encountered, however, strong popular and intellectual resistance from both the Italian people and the Catholic clergy, who called on Catholic Ireland to intervene in their defence. By looking at the interplay between religion and foreign policy, this book breaks through the boundaries between high politics and culture in a way that has not been attempted so far in the study of modern Italy, and puts religion at the centre of a harsh political and cultural war, one that was fought primarily on a transnational level.
