In July 1993, Silvio Berlusconi, known until then as the tycoon of Fininvest and patron of Milan, announced that he wanted to ‘take the field’ and with a group of loyalists, including the brightest managers of Publitalia, he set up a new party, Forza Italia, in the capital. In a short time, an election campaign began, the likes of which had never been seen in Italy, and in Europe. The new political class arrives from outside the palace and the big newspapers realise that only reporters from other worlds, who are familiar with show business and society news, will be able to tell the behind-the-scenes stories and catch the colourful aspects. Maria Latella has journalistic experience ranging from the judiciary to society and knows the United States well, where among other things she closely followed the 1988 presidential election campaign. The Berlusconi who at his first rally at the Fiera di Roma appears before thousands of people will not be a passing phenomenon. In 2OO9 he was Prime Minister for the fourth time in fifteen years. In ‘How to Conquer a Country’ Maria Latella reconstructs those frenetic months in which the political era we are still living through took shape.