Valditara demands withdrawal of Laterza history textbook that calls Meloni government liberticidal

Minister calls for the textbook to be pulled

Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, asked publisher Laterza to withdraw the high-school history textbook 'Trame del tempo 3'. He made the request to pupils at the Goffredo Mameli middle school in Milan. He said the book contains claims that are politically motivated and unreliable, and that withdrawing it would serve the publisher's own interest in protecting its scientific reputation. Valditara described the text as scientifically inadequate and said it risks indoctrinating students.

“It contains claims that are self-serving and totally unreliable.”

What the book says about the government

The contested passages describe the government of Giorgia Meloni as continuing the legacy of fascism. They say it came to power a century after the March on Rome and 77 years after the Liberation from fascism, and that its party maintains a close relationship with a base the text calls openly fascist. The book cites a June 2024 Fanpage investigation titled 'Gioventù meloniana' in support of that claim. Another passage says the government implements clearly liberticidal measures, pointing to the security bill of September 2024, which it says significantly restricts the right to demonstrate. The text also accuses the government of pursuing deportation plans and of persistently criminalising migrants in the media.

Publisher rejects the request

Alessandro Laterza, chief executive of the publishing house and head of its school division, rejected the request. He said the book had already been debated in the summer of 2025 and that the minister had asked the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) to have the text checked about a year and a half earlier. According to Laterza, the association replied that it does not control the books of its members, and the publisher told the ministry it would not accept changes suggested by the ministry or anyone else. Laterza pointed to the courts as the proper place to address any content judged defamatory or inappropriate. Asked whether a minister may ask for a textbook to be changed or withdrawn, he answered:

“My answer is no, regardless of this or that book.”

Parliamentary question and wider row

Galeazzo Bignami of Fratelli d'Italia (FdI) noticed the book listed among new titles on school book sales platforms, and FdI then submitted a parliamentary question contesting the book's judgements on the government. Valditara, speaking in Milan, said portraying the government in those terms does no one any good. He said the government does not deport immigrants in the manner the book describes and rejected the description of it as fascist.

“Frankly, I believe that portraying this government as one that deports immigrants and singles them out, a fascist government or something of the sort, does no one any good.”

In the same days, student demonstrations and occupations were under way, and Valditara told reporters that demands should be raised through student representatives and a ministry platform linking his department with the municipalities. The publisher has not agreed to withdraw the book in its response.