Maurizio Ridolfi is a researcher in Contemporary History at the University of Viterbo. He studies in particular processes of politicization and forms of sociability. For Laterza he has published Il PSI e la nascita di un partito di massa. 1892-1922 (1992). He has devoted several works to the republican tradition in Italian history, amongst which: Il partito della Repubblica (1872-1895) (1989).

Nicola Tranfaglia is Professor Emeritus at the University of Turin, where he taught European History and the History of Journalism. He writes for "La Stampa", "Unità" and "E Polis". His most recent works include: Fascism and Modernization in Europe (Turin 2001); How the Republic was Born, 1943-1947 (Milan 2004); Ministers and Journalists. The war and the Minculpop (Turin 2005); and The Regime's Press, 1932-1943 (Milan 2005).