Synopses & Reviews
In 1945, disguised in German greatcoat and helmet, Mussolini attempted to escape from the advancing Allied
armies. Unfortunately for him, the convoy of which he was part was stopped by partisans and his features, made
so familiar by Fascist propaganda, gave him away. Within 24 hours he was dead, executed by his captors. He
joined those he sent early to their graves as an outcome of his dictatorship - at least a million people, and
probably more.
He was one of the tyrant-killers who so scarred interwar Europe, but we cannot properly understand him or his
regime by any simple equation with Hitler or Stalin. Like Hitler and Stalin, his life began, modestly, in the
provinces; unlike them, he maintained a traditional male family life, including both wife and mistresses, and
sought in his way to be an intellectual. He was cruel (but not the cruellist); his racism existed, but never with the
consistency and rigour that would have made him a good recruit for the SS. He sought an empire; but, in the
most part, his was of the old-fashioned, costly, nineteenth century variety, not a racial or ideological imperium.
And, self-evidently Italian society was not German or Russian: the particular patterns of that society shaped his
dictatorship.
Richard Bosworth's Mussolini allows us to come closer than ever before to an appreciation of the life and
actions of the man and of the political world and society within which he operated. With extraordinary skill and
vividness, drawing on a huge range of sources, this biography paints a picture of brutality and failure, yet one
tempered with an understanding of Mussolini as a human being, not so different from many of his
contemporaries.
Review
'Bosworth's Mussolini challenges most of the recent interpretations of the Italian leader ... [He] demolishes
the image of the Duce strutting across the European stage in charge of his own destiny. Charisma, a lust for
power, and boundless ambition carried Mussolini far from his origins in Dovia and Predappio but left him in
the end a physical wreck at the mercy of forces he could not control and men with wills that were much
stronger than his own. Italy, as they say, was collateral damage.' Alexander De Grand , Professor of
History, North Carolina State University, USA
Review
'Impressively researched, splendidly written, sound in judgement, rich in insight and humane in spirit - in
every respect a superb study of Mussolini and his Fascist regime.' Ian Kershaw, author of Hitler: Hubris
(1889-1936) and Hitler: Nemesis (1936-1945)and Professor of History, University of Sheffield, UK
Review
R.J.B. Bosworth offers a measured assessment, not without sympathy
and even at times with admiration. He seems to me to have come closer to
a true understanding of Mussolini than any previous English-language
biographer. His book is excellent - persuasive and highly intelligent. It is
lucid, elegant and a pleasure to read"-
Allan Massie, The Daily Telegraph, 16 March 2002
Review
Richard Bosworth has produced a solid, judicious and very readable
account of the Duces life, based on extensive archival research and a
well-nigh exhaustive knowledge of the secondary literature. The
Mussolini who emerges is an eminently believable figure: bogus in some
ways, but not a mere buffoon; brutal but not altogether inhuman; not a
colossus, yet certainly a more substantial figure than most of the
second-rate galere that surrounded him; a man with a real talent for
manipulating domestic politics, but increasingly wayward and out of his
depth in international affairs.
Noel Malcolm, The Sunday Telegraph, 3 March 2002
Review
"Richard Bosworth has given us a well-written and reliable biography of
Mussolini that is based on an intelligent and extensive reading of the
existing scholarship. Bosworth reveals a Mussolini whose driving
ambition masked a cynical, superficial, and directionless intelligence.
Bosworth's Duce was a hollow man who was well aware of the void at
the center of his own being and under increasing strain to keep up the
spectacle that he himself created". -Alexander De Grand, North Carolina State University, USA
Review
"The first major biography of Benito Mussolini to appear since the end of
the Cold War, Bosworth's new study avoids the parochialism, ethnic
stereotyping, and ideological partisanship that have defined so much of the
previous work on the leader of Italian Fascism. The resulting portrait of
the Duce is a subtle and complex one that captures the multiple strengths,
flaws, and contradictions of his personality and of a remarkable political
career that spanned the most traumatic moments of the twentieth century.
Bosworth distinctive approach, which carefully assesses the interplay
between Mussolini's intentions and the structural realities of Italian
society in the shaping of events, not only provides insightful comparisons
with his more notorious Axis partner, Adolph Hitler, but also offers a
comprehensive view of the Fascist Regime as a whole.
His biography rests upon a sweeping command of a vast propagandistic
and secondary literature as well as a wide array of archival sources drawn
from four countries. Such a solid scholarly apparatus will impress
specialists, while a more general audience will be captivated by the book's
engaging and accessible writing style".
- Anthony Cardoza, Chair of History, Loyola University, Chicago
Synopsis
"Exhaustive study of Benito Mussolini...leaves no stone unturned in trying to explain the complexities of Il Duce and his times...Reveals the author's appreciation of the complex ingredients of Il Duce's legacy, a legacy that still influences Italian politics...Although his 22-year dictatorial reign brought misery to millions, Mussolini never bought into the racist fanaticism of his Nazi brethren. As Bosworth infers, Mussolini's inherent zest for life kept him from becoming the grim exterminator Hitler wanted him to be...The definitive study of the Italian dictator and belongs in every public and academic library with a strong European history collection."—Library Journal
Synopsis
Bosworth's Mussolini allows us to come closer than ever before to an understanding of the life and actions of the dictator and of the political world and society within which he operated. This biography paints a picture of brutality and failure in governance with insight into Mussolini as a human being shaped by the particular patterns of Italian society which were so vastly different from Axis partners Germany and Japan.
Mussolini was a brutal tyrant who added untold numbers to the dead of war torn Europe but we cannot understand his regime by equating it with Hitler or Stalin. His life began modestly in the provinces and he maintained a traditional family life for a man of his time including both a wife and mistresses. He sought in his way to be an intellectual but was capable of cruelty and was a racist with the consistency and vigor which would have made him a good recruit for the SS. He sought an empire but, for the most part, was more of an old-fashioned nineteenth century despot not a racial or ideological imperium.
His end came in 1945 in the closing days of World War II. Disguised in German greatcoat and helmet, Mussolini attempted to escape from the advancing Allied armies but was stopped by partisans who recognized his features, made so familiar by Fascist propaganda which eventually gave him away, and within 24 hours he was publicly executed.
Synopsis
Mussolini was one of the tyrant-killers of the Axis powers who scarred Europe during World War II, but we can't properly understand him or his regime by any facile equation with Hitler or Stalin. Like them, his life began modestly in the provinces; unlike them, he maintained a traditional male family life, including both a wife and mistresses, and sought in his way to be an intellectual. He was cruel (though not the cruelest); his racism existed, but never with the consistency and vigor that would have made him a good recruit for the SS. He sought an empire, but, for the most part, his was of the old-fashioned, costly, nineteenth-century variety, not of a racial or ideological imperialism. And Italy was not Germany or Russia: the particular patterns of that society greatly shaped his dictatorship.
R. J. B. Bosworths Mussolini allows us to come closer than ever before to an appreciation of the life and actions of the man and of the political world and society within which he operated. With extraordinary skill and vividness, drawing on a huge range of sources, this biography paints a picture of brutality and failure, yet one tempered with an understanding of Mussolini as a human being shaped by and living within the context of this time.
About the Author
Richard Bosworth is one of the world's leading authorities on modern Italian history. He has been a Visiting Fellow at a number of institutions, including the Italian Academy at Columbia University, St. Johns and Clare Hall (Cambridge), Balliol and All Souls Colleges (Oxford), the Humanities Research Centre (Canberra) and the University of Trento in Italy. He currently shares his Professorship of History between the University of Western Australia and Reading University in the UK. Since the initial publication of his biography of Mussolini, he has written Mussolini's Italy: life under the dictatorship (Penguin, 2006), and a short polemic, Nationalism (Pearson, 2007). In 2009 he edited for Oxford University Press the Oxford handbook of fascism.
Table of Contents
Preface
The Furies and Benito Mussolini 1944-1945
First of his class? the Mussolinis and the young Benito 1883-1902
Emigrant and socialist 1902-1910
The class struggle 1910-1914
War and revolution 1914-1919
The first months of Fascism 1919-1920
The Fascist rise to power 1920-1922
Government 1922-1924
The imposition of dictatorship 1924-1925
The Man of Providence 1926-1929
Mussolini in his pomp 1929-1932
The challenge of Adolf Hitler 1932-1934
Empire in Ethiopia 1935-1936
Crisis in Europe 1936-1938
The approach of a Second World War 1938-1939
Germany's ignoble second 1939-1941
First fall and feeble resurrection 1942-1943
The ghost of Benito Mussolini 1945-2001.