His uncle, Diego Valeri (1887–1976), had built up a reputation in Italy as a poet, literary scholar and translator.
In 1957 he became a corresponding fellow of the Academy of Sciences at Turin,[5] and in 1962 of the Rome based Accademia dei Lincei.
Particularly notable among his books are his works on Giovanni Giolitti (1971) and on political conflict in Italy between 1860 and 1925 ("La lotta politica in Italia dall'unità al 1925", 1945).
He contributed to various periodicals and academic journals, such as the Nuova Rivista Storica.
He also took charge of the collations "History of Italy" ("Storia d'Italia") and "Society in the new Italy" ("La vita sociale della Nuova Italia") produced by the UTET (publishing house) in Turin.