Alfredo Bonadeo was born in Volpedo (Italy), emigrated to the United States where he graduated in Romance Languages and Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He was a Professor of Italian language and literature at the Università of California, Santa Barbara (1969-1994). Has published: Corruption, Conflict and Power in the Works and Times of Niccolò Machiavelli; Mark of the Beast. Death and Degradation in the Literature of the Great War; D'Annunzio and the Great War; Leopardi e la religione della vita.