He was no ordinary man, Giuseppe Garibaldi: a charismatic leader, convinced revolutionary, an idealist who did not permit himself to be corrupted by success or fame. Once dead, however, power transformed him into a myth, a “lay saint” to be manipulated to garner the support and enthusiasm of the masses - by whatever means available. In what way, then, was the mythical figure of Garibaldi created? When? And above all, why? Lucy Riall narrates the first symbolic case of the public creation of a hero, conceived, constructed and promoted to become a symbol. The “Literary Review” had this to say about Riall’s work: “Armed with an exuberance and energy worthy of a true Garabaldino, Lucy Riall gives us a book which is about rather more than the myriad fantasies projected onto the most famous of Italy's nation-builders, a work with inevitable resonances for our own age of celebrity-chasing and willing enslavement to the media.”