Astarita, Tommaso 1961–

PERSONAL: Born April 6, 1961, in Naples, Italy; son of Giovanni (a university professor) and Nerina (a high school teacher; maiden name, Giuliani) Astarita. Education: University of Naples, Laurea in Letters, 1983; Johns Hopkins University, M.A., 1985, Ph.D., 1988. Religion: "No affiliation."

ADDRESSES: Home—1 Scott Cir. NW, #621, Washington, DC 20036. Office—Department of History, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057-1058. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Historian, educator, and writer. Wright State University, Dayton, OH, visiting assistant professor, 1988–89; Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 1989–, began as assistant professor, became professor of history and director of Undergraduate Studies.

MEMBER: American History Association, Society for Holier History Studies, Catholic History Association.

WRITINGS:

The Continuity of Feudal Power: The Caracciolo di Brienza in Spanish Naples, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 1992.

Village Justice: Community, Family, and Popular Culture in Early Modern Italy, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 1999.

Between Salt Water and Holy Water: A History of Southern Italy, W.W. Norton (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: An historian whose research focuses on the social and economic aspects of early modern Italy, Tommaso Astarita is the author of several books of Italian history. In The Continuity of Feudal Power: The Caracciolo di Brienza in Spanish Naples Astarita analyzes a family of Neapolitan aristocracy, the Brienza family of the Caracciolo. Through this family, the author examines the continuing importance of feudal institutions, traditions, and values within the aristocracy in helping this group maintain its hold on prestige and power for nearly three centuries. "This volume has a number of features to recommend it," wrote Robert J. McCue in the Canadian Journal of History. "It is very clearly laid out with each chapter beginning with a clearly stated objective. It contains a very good summary of Neapolitan history to provide a context for the study." Writing in the Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Marta Petrusewicz commented that the book "constitutes another sign of the recent revival of Neapolitan history, perennially understudied despite the fact that the Kingdom was Italy's largest state and Naples its largest city."

The author focuses on Naples and southern Italy once again in the early modern era in Village Justice: Community, Family, and Popular Culture in Early Modern Italy. This time, Astarita focuses on how baronial justice worked through a mix of judicial studies and microhistory, such as an account of a salacious murder and its 1710 trial in a local feudal court. Karl Appuhn, writing in the Journal of Modern History, believed that Village Justice is "one of the few English language studies focusing on the eighteenth century, a relatively neglected period in Italian history." Appuhn praised the work: "It is conceptually innovative, thoroughly and subtly researched, and it strikes an impressive balance between specific documentary evidence and broader conclusions."

Between Salt Water and Holy Water: A History of Southern Italy relates the history of southern Italy beginning with the ancient Greeks and their establishment of city-states in the region; it then proceeds through to the latter half of the twentieth century. In a review for the Library Journal, Sean Michael Fleming commented that the book is "abundantly detailed." Mark Knoblauch, writing in Booklist, felt that the author "does a masterful job of … bringing to life … the people and events of these lands."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2005, Mark Knoblauch, review of Between Salt Water and Holy Water: A History of Southern Italy, p. 1743.

Canadian Journal of History, August, 1993, Robert J. McCue, review of The Continuity of Feudal Power: The Caracciolo di Brienza in Spanish Naples, p. 340.

Journal of Interdisciplinary History, winter, 1994, Marta Petrusewicz, review of The Continuity of Feudal Power, p. 545.

Journal of Modern History, September, 2001, Karl Appuhn, review of Village Justice: Community, Family, and Popular Culture in Early Modern Italy, p. 693.

Journal of Social History, fall, 2001, Rudolph M. Bell, review of Village Justice, p. 248.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2005, review of Between Salt Water and Holy Water, p. 519.

Library Journal, July 1, 2005, Sean Michael Fleming, review of Between Salt Water and Holy Water, p. 96.

ONLINE

Georgetown University History Department Web site, http://www.georgetown.edu/departments/history/ (March 20, 2006), brief account of author's academic interests.