Luca Danzi, Manzoni: «Marzo 1821», Roma, Carocci editore, 2024

This review examines Luca Danzi’s Manzoni: «Marzo 1821» (2024), a comprehensive study of Alessandro Manzoni’s famous civil ode. The reviewer emphasizes how Danzi’s analysis challenges the traditional image of the pious Christian author by exposing Manzoni’s persistent justification of political violence for national independence. Through biblical imagery, such as the figure of Jael, and parallels with the Inni sacri, Manzoni sacralizes war and legitimizes enemy slaughter as a divine act. The text highlights a profound moral contradiction: an unyielding incitement to murderous wrath (furore) coexists with the evangelical message of love found in I Promessi Sposi. Ultimately, Danzi’s volume offers a lucid portrait of an alternative Manzoni, revealing a dark, nationalistic rhetoric and an embrace of ideological violence that the author never recanted.