This is a unique attempt to celebrate the history of the Italian spirit. Drawing upon a body of positive myth, Anthony Valerio turns over the ubiquitous singularity of the 'Godfather' myth and reveals the essence of Italian culture. Through an innovative approach combining fact, memory and invention, "Valentino & the Great Italians" illuminates, in twenty-two remark-able portraits, the lives and times of such heroes and legends as Rudolph Valentino, Giuseppe and Anita Garibaldi, Joe DiMaggio, Christopher Columbus, Mario Cuomo, Enrico Caruso, Lee Iacocca, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Mona Lisa. They are all brought to life in an Italian opera of passion, tragedy, comedy and scandal.