As one of the first investigative journalists to publicly question Berlusconi's fitness for government, Economist writer David Lane sparked an uproar in Italy. Now, after years of research and using many unique documents and material, including numerous in-depth interviews with senior magistrates, top lawyers and a former President, he reveals the truth about Berlusconi's life and career: his dubiously acquired wealth and secret offshore companies; his shadowy business associates; his links with noted mafia figures; his extreme right-wing contacts and lingering sympathy for the high days of Italian Fascism; his scandalous manipulation of the legal system; and the staggering conflicts of interest that enable him to exploit his money and media to silence opposition.Berlusconi's Shadow is also an exploration of the dark underside of Italy today: a nation still steeped in violence and corruption, where bribery and back-handers are commonplace and the Mafia seems unstoppable. It is a crisis which, Lane shows, matters now more than ever and we cannot afford to ignore.