Italy during the Years of Lead

From the late 1960s Italy experienced a prolonged period of political violence commonly known as the Years of Lead. Far-left and far-right armed groups carried out bombings, assassinations and kidnappings, while allegations surrounding covert security networks and extremist infiltration complicated public understanding of the violence.

The crisis reached one of its most notorious moments in 1978 with the kidnapping and murder of former prime minister Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades. Rome was a central political setting for these conflicts, and fears of terrorism, espionage and hidden institutional loyalties formed part of the atmosphere of the decade.

Elizabeth Buchan’s Two Women in Rome reconstructs Nina Lawrence’s life and death in Rome in 1978 through a later archival investigation. Its historical strand combines romance with espionage and political thriller elements, making the Years of Lead an appropriate context without implying that the fictional characters themselves were historical figures.