Synopses & Reviews
With
Mussolini and#146;s Italy, R.J.B. Bosworthand#151;the foremost scholar on the subject writing in Englishand#151;vividly brings to life the period in which Italians participated in one of the twentieth centuryand#146;s most notorious political experiments. Il Duceand#146;s Fascists were the original totalitarians, espousing a cult of violence and obedience that inspired many other dictatorships, Hitlerand#146;s first among them. But as Bosworth reveals, many Italians resisted its ideology, finding ways, ingenious and varied, to keep Fascism from taking hold as deeply as it did in Germany. A sweeping chronicle of struggle in terrible times, this is the definitive account of Italyand#146;s darkest hour.
Review
With this insightful, comprehensive study, Bosworth secures his place as one of the two leading historians in the English-speaking world . . . of twentieth-century Italy. (Publishers Weekly, starred and boxed review)
Review
A powerful work of scholarship, beautifully written, which should be read by anyone interested in twentieth-century Europe. (The Economist)
Review
Shrewd, lucid, exhaustively documented and totally unsentimental. (David Schoenbaum,
The New York Times)
With this insightful, comprehensive study, Bosworth secures his place as one of the two leading historians in the English-speaking world . . . of twentieth-century Italy. (Publishers Weekly, starred and boxed review)
A powerful work of scholarship, beautifully written, which should be read by anyone interested in twentieth-century Europe. (The Economist)
Synopsis
With
Mussolini s Italy, R.J.B. Bosworththe foremost scholar on the subject writing in Englishvividly brings to life the period in which Italians participated in one of the twentieth centurys most notorious political experiments. Il Duces Fascists were the original totalitarians, espousing a cult of violence and obedience that inspired many other dictatorships, Hitlers first among them. But as Bosworth reveals, many Italians resisted its ideology, finding ways, ingenious and varied, to keep Fascism from taking hold as deeply as it did in Germany. A sweeping chronicle of struggle in terrible times, this is the definitive account of Italys darkest hour.
Synopsis
With
Mussolini and#146;s Italy, R.J.B. Bosworthand#151;the foremost scholar on the subject writing in Englishand#151;vividly brings to life the period in which Italians participated in one of the twentieth centuryand#146;s most notorious political experiments. Il Duceand#146;s Fascists were the original totalitarians, espousing a cult of violence and obedience that inspired many other dictatorships, Hitlerand#146;s first among them. But as Bosworth reveals, many Italians resisted its ideology, finding ways, ingenious and varied, to keep Fascism from taking hold as deeply as it did in Germany. A sweeping chronicle of struggle in terrible times, this is the definitive account of Italyand#146;s darkest hour.
About the Author
R. J .B. Bosworths prizewinning Mussolini was greeted on publication in 2002 as the definitive life of Il Duce. He is professor of history at the University of Western Australia.
Table of Contents
Mussolini's Italy
List of illustrations List of abbreviations
Note on further reading
Maps
Preface
Introduction
1. One Italy or another before 1914
2. Liberal and dynastic war
3. Popular and national war
4. 1919
5. Becoming a Fascist
6. Learning to rule in the provinces
7. Learning to rule from Rome
8. Building a totalitarian dictatorship
9. Forging Fascist society
10. Placing Italy in Europe
11. Going to the people
12. Dictating full-time
13. Becoming imperialists
14. Embracing Nazi Germany
15. Lurching into war
16. The wages of Fascist war
17. Losing all the wars
18. The Fascist heritage
Conclusion
Notes
Index