1. A former Spanish colony, the island became part of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in 1720; it abandoned its institutional specificities, which had fallen into disuse after the granting of the “Albertine Statute” in 1848, and became “Italian” with the declaration of national unity in 1861. Initially divided into two provinces, the island is today an autonomous region composed of eight provinces. For a general historical framework, see M. Brigaglia, A. Mastino and G. G. Ortu (eds.), Storia della Sardegna, 2 vol. (Rome/Bari: Laterza, 2006).
2. On the specific period examined in this chapter see, G. Sotgiu, Storia della Sardegna dalla Grande Guerra al fascismo (Roma: Bari, 1990).
3. G. L. Mosse, De la Grande Guerre au totalitarisme. La brutalisation des sociétés européennes (Paris: Hachette, 1999).
4. This reputation was subsequently verified by a prominent school of research influential in English-speaking scholarship, following the work of Edward Banfield and those who came after him; see E. C. Banfield, The Moral Basis of a Backward Society (Glencoe: The Free Press, 1958)
5. G. Almond and S. Verba, The Civic Culture (Boston: Little & Brown, 1963)