Mussolini Book

Mussolini has always been a puzzle for me and after reading this book he remains a puzzle. This is not the fault of the author but of the man who seems to have been a puzzle to himself.

Mussolini was an arrogant pseudo-intellectual who employed demagoguery and flattery to obtain and keep power. Once he had it, though, he was in way over his head.

Bosworth does a good job describing how Italy ended up in the miserable situation of aiding Nazi Germany. The Fascists were by no means natural allies to the Nazis (indeed, nationalism alone should have driven them apart) but Mussolini's idiotic foreign policy of 19th century imperialism isolated Italy from potential allies like France or Great Britain. Bosworth also does a wonderful job describing how poorly Mussolini read the situation, thinking Germany might seek peace with Stalin to fight the West!

There are a few drawbacks to this book. Many characters come in and out without us ever getting to know them. Perhaps not Bosworth's fault; we know about Himmler, Goering, and Goebbels because we focus so much on Nazi Germany, and giving a similar account to all of these important secondary characters would greatly increase this already not small book. Nevertheless, it is hard to follow people we do not know or care about.

Bosworth seems to dislike how history has treated Mussolini as a joke, but his own book seems to confirm it. The random shot at capitalism and advertising at the end doesn't fit in well.

Mussolini may have been impressed with Plato's Republic, a beautiful totalitarian state. He should have focused on Socrates' message concerning the human soul, however. I almost feel bad for him after reading this book. Not that I wish he would've achieved his goals, but the man was pathetic, a point all the more poignant next to the myth of il Duce.