ABSTRACT
EG’s interest in Italian nationalism and her knowledge of contemporary Italian politics are reflected in the Preface she wrote for Colonel Augusto Vecchj’s Garibaldi at Caprera in 1862 (see p. 321). In this article for All the Year Round on 21 March 1863 (9, pp. 93–7) she tackles a more sinister aspect of Italian, or specifically Neapolitan life, the Camorra, a secret criminal society which originated in the nineteenth century, and which was devoted to extortion and blackmail. As the article makes clear, following the liberation of Naples by Garibaldi, the Camorra temporarily turned themselves into a police force in support of the new regime. However they soon reverted to their criminal activities, and their allegiance to the old Bourbon rulers.
