by Neville Rogers
Lauro de Bosis ' historic flight over Rome on October 3, 1931, when he showered 40,000 leaflets addressed to the king and people of Italy, was both a spontaneous individual act of defiance and a clear call to action against tyranny. Much in de Bosis' thought was inspired by Shellev. Neville Rogers, Shelley scholar and writer on Italian affairs, considers the significance of some of de Bosis' ideas in the light of subsequent history.