Mussolini Book

In modern times when we see films of Benito Mussolini, strutting like a peacock, with out thrust chin and arms folded across his chest, we see a buffoon. In this unsparing biography the author shows us that this was not quite the case. Mussolini was a prodigious con man with great powers of persuasion who had a talent for seeing which way the political winds were blowing and used this talent to become Il Duce, the man responsible for damaging Italy almost beyond repair.

He was an anarchist, nationalist, imperialist, constantly changing his political position until he settled on fascism but never seemed to be able to explain in a consistent manner exactly what the tenets of fascism were. His strength was in his belief that the power of words was the essential art of government and that the masses were moved by emotion and not by reason. He kept his government totally in the dark while he indulged his passion for petty administrative details and they were left to guess at his policies. He had no original thought and based his leadership on lies and fantastic exaggeration. Mussolini even criticized Napoleon for a flaw in his character by which dreams of empire and military victories overwhelmed him and led to his fall.,,,,,he did not perceive that same flaw in his own actions which would lead, not to exile, but to an ignominious death.

I recommend this highly readable biography of one of the most improbable leaders in Italian history.