Drawing on freshly discovered material--including correspondence previously unavailable outside academia--the talented writer and journalist Nicholas Farrell has created a revelatory biography of the Italian fascist leader and dictator. How did Mussolini manage to take power and hold on to it for two decades? What inspired Churchill to call him "the Roman genius" and Pope Pius XI to say he was "sent by Providence"? And how did Mussolini successfully curtail democracy without using mass murder to stay in command? Farrell answers these questions and more, focusing particularly on Mussolini's fatal error: his alliance with Hitler, whom he despised. Anyone interested in history, politics, and World War II will encounter an intriguing and startling picture of one of the 20th century's key figures.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A former journalist for the Daily Telegraph brings new light to Mussolini's political contributions and his embattled conscience in this absorbing and fresh biography of the man who created, and then lost control of, the Fascist movement. Farrell follows his subject's numerous underlings and mistresses to piece together a portrait untainted by the maniacal persona Mussolini has inherited from history. This balanced perspective opens the door for an updated look at European Fascism and Anti-Semitism, one that will be useful to understanding the bloody chess game Europe's foreign ministers and military commanders played during the two World Wars. Farrell seems committed to exonerating Il Duce from complicity with Hitler's crimes, going so far as to argue that, while "the French had been only too willing to round up the Jews," Mussolini and his officers went out of their way to save the Jewish people in their territories. Still, Farrell's greatest feat is his iconoclastic analysis of Fascism's socialist origins and its contemporary rivalry with democracy as it tried to plot a "Third Way" between capitalism and communism. Soberly countenancing the moral relativity of power in the modern epoch, Farrell recounts Mussolini's life with precision and detail. Though long and complex, this new reading of Italy's most infamous leader and his place in history's most violent chapter is an original and important work.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
'This interestingly dissenting book explains why he was so popular and why some, perhaps many Italians, still think of ll Duce with nostalgia' Peter Lewis, Daily Mail 'The question of whether Italians had to pay too much in terms of loss of liberty has been answered by Farrell in a passionate and thought-provoking way...this highly spirited, opinionated and rather remarkable book' Andrew Roberts, Daily Telegraph 'Fascinating. His account of Mussolini's last days - his betrayal and his pitiful death - is masterly and surprisingly moving....In many ways a fine, thought- provoking book' Glasgow Herald
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A refreshing departure,
By
This review is from: Mussolini: A New Life (Paperback)
This book will prompt much vitriol. It is a departure from the typical biography of Benito Mussolini which has been penned by British authors over the past six decades. Most biographers portray il Duce as an evil incompetant who bullied his way to power; in short, the dogma of "Mussolini was always wrong" applies. By ascribing to this mantra, these authors (Mack Smith, Ridley, Bosworth, etc.) fail to answer an important question: if Mussolini was so stupid, how could he retain power for over twenty years? Was it by "hypnotizing" the masses? If so, why was this feat not replicated by any other Italian stateman either before or since?In this well-researched book, Farrell traces the roots of Mussolini's political thought and the events that led to Italy's "mutilated victory" of World War I. He explains how the Treaty of London (1915)promised to a victorious Italy territorial gains that were then denied to her at the conclusion of the war. This fact, together with the sacrifice of over 600,000 of Italy's youth in the Great War, set the stage for Mussolini and allowed him to tap into Italian humiliation, anger and nationalism. The picture of a shrewd and resourceful politician emerges. Farrell identifies some of Fascism's successful public work projects in the interwar years, e.g. the "Battle for Grain" that allowed Italy to sever its dependance on foreign sources of grain to feed its people. Hitler's ascent to German chancellor in January of 1933, however, changes the dynamics of power in Europe and Hitler's ambitions provide the Allied destraction Mussolini needs in order to widen the Italian sphere of influence. The Ethiopian campaign is born but so too is Italy's tie to Germany as Britain objects to Italy's territorial ambitions in Africa. Farrell then points to Britain's Foreign secretary, Anthony Eden, and his anti-Italian prejudice as being partly culpable for cementening Italy to Germany. He proposes that had it not been for Eden, World War II may have been avoided. Indeed, few authors mention that it was Italy alone among the European powers that chose to stand up to Hitler in 1934 and prevent the Nazi anschluss of Austria. Farrell wonders whether had Britain acted differently towards Italy from 1935-1940 and coaxed her over to the Allied side whether sufficient pressure would have been brought to bear on Hitler's Germany and much bloodshed avoided. Would Italy have been coaxable, however, by allies who had betrayed the promoises of the Treaty of London? Revealed, therefore, is a man driven by greed, fear and patriotism who led his country into a devestating war she was unprepared to fight. Such a decision was probably not based on stupdity, however, as the predominent wisdom in June of 1940 was that France was vanquished and England would soon sue for peace. History would obviously prove otherwise. Farrell is not a heretic or a blasphemer. Mussolini is not portrayed as a saint or a satan. He is made out to be a man who made mistakes, sometimes catastrophic, but always with the goal of making Italy great.
22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent reassement,
By
This review is from: Mussolini (Hardcover)
Mussolini was the father of modern fascism, now a movement roundly and rightly condemned for the results it would have later in Germany. But the truth is that Fascisms real successes were in Italy and Spain where it stemmed the tide of uncontrolled anarchism and communist subversion to create a proletarian corporate state. Although Fascism is now synonymous with evil, this was not so in Italy, where today's Italian party includes a coalition of Italy's old fascist party.This wonderful much needed book examines Mussolini and although it pulls no punches in detailing Italian atrocities in Ethiopia and Mussolini's weakness to stand up to Hitler this book also widely and accurately praises Mussolini by offering a sobering honest account of his life. Usually the Italian dictator who came to power in 1922 is dismissed as a buffoon and a clown. But this book shows positively that this is not case. Mussolini called on the veterans of WWI to stand up for themselves by refusing to be spat on in public and he called on the nation to stop the flirtation with international socialism and instead become a nationalist productive beacon. His movement condemned the parasites of society, but unlike the Nazis, these parasites were not outlines by race or religion, rather they were parasites who came from all classes and embodied the ethic of the professional bureaucratic communist, those who never worked but who were professional strikers and politicians, living off the backs of proletariat to create a new dictatorship where the proletariat would be enslaved as it was in Russia. Here we see how Mussolini went from being a dedicated socialist to apply his ideas to a new movement. And we see the inner workings of the Italian state under fascism, at peace with Europe until Hitler dragged it into WWII. No punches are pulled. This book details Mussolini's vast secret police forces and his failures as well as his insane obsessions. But a fair assessment is made, especially in analyzing Mussolini's half hearted defense of Italian Jews and his efforts to never allow one concentration camp on Italian soil, which is why not one Jew was ever deported until after the Nazis took over Italy in 1943. This book reminds us that Mussolini's greatest influences had been Socialism and in particular two Jewish women, titans of Italian socialism, which is why it has been a tragedy that Mussolini has gone down in history as no more then Hitler's goon, which he certainly was not from 1922 to 1943. A round defense of Italian fascism and an excellent biography. Anyone interest in the alternative fascisms of Spain and Italy, will enjoy this book as will anyone interested in Italian politics and society or WWII. Seth J. Frantzman
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive review of the life of Il Duce,
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This review is from: Mussolini: A New Life (Paperback)
Nicholas Farrell's book is an impassioned revision of a good deal of the standard lore we have learned about Benito Mussolini since 1941, and he offers a different picture of a man who was once greatly admired by Churchill, Roosevelt, and others, only to see his life and life's work go up in flames in April 1945. Athough Farrell's interpretation may be disputed at points, at the very least he presents fascinating and intriguing facets about the life of "Il Duce," and, after reading his volume, one feels a lot closer to understanding the "hows" and "whys" of of an individual who still remains something of an enigma.
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