Benedetto Croce (b. 1866, Pescasseroli, Italy; d. 1952, Naples) is the author of eighteen books, including The History of the Kingdom of Naples and Theory & History of Historiography, and his writing has been translated into several languages. Croce was also a prolific scholar and professor of literary criticism, cultural history, and aesthetics, and he spent 42 years as a senator of the Italian government.