L'esploratore Del Duce: Le Avventure Di Giuseppe Tucci E La Politica Italiana in Oriente Da Mussolini a Andreotti- Con Il Carteggio Di Giulio Andreott, Vol. 2 (Italian Edition)

When the capital of Tibet was still the mythical "Forbidden City", a mysterious destination for the most adventurous explorers, when Nepal was covered with forests and swamps, swarming with dangerous beasts and forbidden to foreigners, when Italy was ruled by the Fascist regime greedily eyeing potential colonial possessions in Asia, a learned and adventurous man, the perfect embodiment of the virile ideals of that age, was able to enter, alone, where no Western man had set foot before: crossing glittering peaks of snow, desolate deserts and ruins of ancient cities, constantly challenging himself, he discovered archaeological treasures from past civilizations. Even today, in the East as well as in the West, the name of this intrepid Italian explorer and insatiable researcher is wrapped in an aura of legend.
We could hardly imagine a richer and more exciting life than that of Giuseppe Tucci (1894-1984), the scholar who can be considered quite rightly one of the fathers of modern Oriental Studies and the protagonist of the Fascist cultural policy in Asia: from his first expeditions to the valleys of the Himalayas and the plains of the Ganges, to the diplomatic activity in Japan as spokesman for the Duce; from his encounters with scholars and leaders like Gandhi, Tagore, the Dalai Lama, Mircea Eliade and Giovanni Gentile, who was his great protector together with Giulio Andreotti, to the archaeological excavations in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in more recent years; a human and intellectual adventure inextricably linked to the history of modern Italy, on which he often managed to throw a new light. An adventure that we can follow through this book, where the pace of the thrilling narrative combines with the scientific and historical reconstruction of the Fascist policy in Asia, and of Tucci's the favorite creature, the powerful Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East. A history based on eyewitness accounts and historical documents, such as the original and unedited correspondence between Tucci and Andreotti, and the unpublished notes of Mussolini.