This Sister Extra podcast is sponsored by Ancestry. On the 8th of May, 1945, peace was declared in Europe.

Some celebrated with riotous street parties. For others, it was a quieter moment of reflection,

tinged with loss. So what was your family's contribution? You can discover your relatives' experiences

with a free trial on Ancestry. Ancestry has millions of scanned and transcribed records from both World Wars.

These include military and civilian records from the World Wars,

making it straightforward to find out more about people's lives,

jobs and experiences during both conflicts, whether they were serving abroad or on the home front.

You can see the part your relatives played in the war effort.

Discover and celebrate your family stories with a 14-day free trial on Ancestry.

Simply register at Ancestry.com.uk.

Welcome to the History Extra podcast, fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History magazine. In 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed, unifying the various Italian states

under one national banner. But what did it mean to be Italian in the mid-19th century? How did the Pope react to

the concept of a united Italy? And why did so many British women fall in love with Garibaldi?

Here in conversation with Spencer Mizzen, David Lavin answers your questions on the

Resorgimento, the campaign to Unify Italy.

Hi David, we're here today to talk about the unification of Italy, the Resorgimento. I wonder if you

could start by giving us a really brief introduction to the resorgimento. What was it? When did it happen?

And why is it so important? Okay. So the resurgimento is the term that we generally use

to describe the processes leading up to and including the unification of Italy.

Italy, of course, had been divided since the fall of the Roman Empire.

But really, we're talking about a process that most people would date from about the time

of the French Revolution. Some people might date it back to the 18th century

...