With the astuteness of a journalistic investigation and the power of compelling writing, Carlo Bonini takes us behind the scenes of the mobile units, into the lives of men who every day embody the state in the squares: in front of students, striking workers, migrants and anyone who expresses dissent. In an Italy where rancour and fear seem to have become a common language, ACAB is not only the account of an investigation into our country's recent past, but also a necessary reflection on who we are and what we are becoming.

Fifteen years have passed since the publication of this book and the events it recounts. Daughters of that year zero, July 2001, when the G8 summit in Genoa turned into a sabbath of violence and police abuse in the squares where thousands of anti-globalisation demonstrators had gathered. Vicissitudes, above all, of a challenge that, then as now, seemed necessary to recount by turning the point of view upside down. By putting oneself behind the plexiglass visor of a blue helmet, through the eyes of the policemen. Fifteen years is a long time. Some of the protagonists in this book left the police force because they had "reached the age limit" and "without any nostalgia". Others, such as 'Drago' or 'the Sloppy One', still wear the uniform of public order.