This book focuses on the kidnapping and subsequent murder of Aldo Moro. It not only reconstructs the facts, but also sheds light on the national and global reasons for which he was killed. Moro’s assassination was a watershed moment in the history of the Italian Republic from 1945 until today. However, its relevance was not only national: it was in many ways a global event, a significant episode in the history of the confrontation between the blocs in the Cold War. This book is written by two authors – a professional historian as well as prominent politician, Claudio Signorile, who was deputy secretary general of the Italian Sociality Party and in contact with the Red Brigades during the negotiations to save Moro’s life.

Divided into three parts, the first part analyses Italy as a frontier country in the Cold War. It considers all the bloody episodes, from the early seventies until the Moro case, that mark the tension between the USSR and the USA. The second part examines the political situation in Italy in greater detail – the chronic weakness of the political system as well as the nature of red and black Italian terrorism. The third part scrutinizes the kidnapping story that many persons believe, are not an entirely Italian affair. After four parliamentary commissions of inquiry (the most recent occurring in 2022), there is still no certainty about what happened and who had killed Moro.

Simona Colarizi is Emerita Professor of Modern History at Università degli studi di Roma “La Sapienza”, Italy. In 2024 she was awarded the title of Grand’Ufficiale al merito della Repubblica by the Italian Head of State. Among her many publications: Storia del Novecento italiano (2000); Storia politica della Repubblica 1943-2006 (2007); Novecento d’Europa (2015); Un paese in movimento. L’Italia negli anni Sessanta e Settanta (2019); Passatopresente. Alle origini dell’oggi 1989-1994 (2022); and La resistenza lunga. Storia dell’antifascismo italiano dal 1919 al 1945 (2023).

Claudio Signorile, born in Bari in 1937, graduated in Literature from the University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy. Among his many publications: Spinoza e il primato della politica (1969); Turgot il progresso e la storia (1972); Democrazia dell’alternanza e sinistra di Governo (1980); Il Mezzogiorno e l’economia nazionale (1983); Per una sinistra di governo (1986); Il Socialismo Federativo (1991); Un’altra sinistra (2000); Un’Italia capovolta (2016); Il Socialismo della libertà (2025).
After a period as a University Professor of Modern History, in 1972 he was elected to Parliament, where he remained for nearly 30 years. Deputy Secretary General of the Italian Socialist party in 1978, he was a minister from 1981 until 1987, in the Spadolini, Fanfani and Craxi governments. He has authored several books on politics, democracy and socialism.