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What does a nation live for once it has won its unity?
In As Far as Dogali, Alfredo Oriani confronts an Italy still searching for purpose after the Risorgimento. Unity is won, but the national task feels unfinished. He asks whether a state can survive on order and taxes alone, or whether it needs an ideal strong enough to guide its actions.
Dogali brings that question into sharp focus. In Eritrea, an Italian column is overwhelmed by Ethiopian forces led by Ras Alula. The defeat sparks fierce debate over Italy’s ambitions in Africa. Oriani turns this shock into an argument about national purpose, political timidity, and his belief that nations grow through action and struggle.
What you’ll discover
- Unity without certainty Explore the gap between winning national unity and knowing what that unity should serve.
- A defeat becomes a symbol See how Dogali brings Italy’s ambitions in Africa into a fierce debate at home.
- The need for an ideal Encounter Oriani’s belief that a nation needs more than order and taxes to live.
- Politics under pressure Weigh a vision of national greatness against the questions raised by defeat and colonial ambition.
- An argument from within Meet a thinker who takes a side rather than offering a neutral campaign history.
Who will love it
Readers who love Italian history, the stories behind Garibaldi and Mazzini, and essays that wander from a village to a continent. It suits anyone curious about how a nation tells its own story.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An injury opens into national memory
- Praise does not always mean understanding
- Conscience separates faith from church power
- A defeated cause depends on shelter
- A rescue exposes Rome's divided loyalties
- Faith and country remain joined
- The road keeps no footprints
- Machiavelli paints power rather than laws
- National pride carries doubts and blindness
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As Far as Dogali
by Alfredo Oriani · 1889
A priest carries Garibaldi across a flooded river on his back, and an author lies in bed with an injured knee.
Challenging5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“Climb on, General. You know the sea, but I know my river.”
In short
What happens when a writer injures his knee on a country road on the way to a funeral? In As Far as Dogali, Alfredo Oriani turns that accident into a book.
As Far as Dogali at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 25 min5 h 5 min fast, 7 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 91,300 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1889by Alfredo Oriani
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A fall on the road starts the writing
The book opens with an accident. On a gray autumn day, Oriani drives a small red cart from his village of Casola toward Modigliana. Young men from the Workers Society have begged him to speak at the funeral of Don Giovanni Verità.
Near Riolo, a line of wood carts blocks the road. His horse shies, a wheel slips off the edge, and the cart rolls into a ravine. Freshly cut acacia stumps stand at the bottom like spikes, and his right knee strikes one of them.
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Details
- First published
- 1889
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 20 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Oriani, Alfredo. As Far as Dogali. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/as-far-as-dogali.
Oriani, A. (2026). As far as Dogali. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/as-far-as-dogali (Original work published 1889)
Oriani, Alfredo. As Far as Dogali. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/as-far-as-dogali.
@book{oriani2026as,
author = {Oriani, Alfredo},
title = {As Far as Dogali},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/as-far-as-dogali},
note = {First published 1889}
}
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What is As Far as Dogali about?
It is a book of linked pieces by Alfredo Oriani, written while he recovered from a knee injury. It covers the priest Don Giovanni Verità, the Via Emilia, Machiavelli, tragedy, and the Italian defeat at Dogali in 1887.
Who was Don Giovanni Verità?
He was a priest from Modigliana in Romagna who loved hunting and helped Italian patriots. In 1849 he guided Garibaldi to safety across a flooded river. He died in 1885 as a priest, without disowning his political life.
What happened at Dogali?
On January 26, 1887, Ethiopian forces under Ras Alula attacked an Italian column of about five hundred men near Dogali, in what is now Eritrea. Oriani presents their last stand as a symbol of national courage.
The author
Alfredo Oriani
1852–1909 · Italian novelist and essayist
Alfredo Oriani was an Italian writer born in Faenza in 1852. He wrote novels, essays, and works of history, including La lotta politica (1892) and La rivolta ideale (1908). He spent much of his life at his family home, Il Cardello, near Casola Valsenio, where he died in 1909.
“Climb on, General. You know the sea, but I know my river.”
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