GIACOMO LEOPARDI (1798-1837), Italy¿s first and greatest modern poet, was also a critic, philosopher and philologist. His enormous Zibaldone, or philosophical and critical notebook, which many consider one of the great books of the 19th century, will be published in Penguin Classics in 2012.

JONATHAN GALASSI has also translated the poetry of Eugenio Montale and Primo Levi and has published several books of his own poems.