Benito Mussolini: The Rise and Fall of Il Duce

Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II / the Violent Century: War Leader #13

by Christopher Hibbert

With his signature insight and compelling style, Christopher Hibbert explains the extraordinary complexities and contradictions that characterized Benito Mussolini.Mussolini was born on a Sunday afternoon in 1883 in a village in central Italy. On a Saturday afternoon in 1945 he was shot by Communist partisans on the shores of Lake Como. In the sixty-two years in between those two fateful afternoons Mussolini lived one of the most dramatic lives in modern history. Hibbert traces Mussolini's unstoppable rise to power and details the nuances of his facist ideology. This book examines Mussolini's legacy and reveals why he continues to be both revered and reviled by the Italian people.

Genres: History, Biography, Italy, Nonfiction, World War II, War, Politics

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Christopher Hibbert, MC, FRSL, FRGS (5 March 1924 - 21 December 2008) was an English writer, historian and biographer. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the author of many books, including Disraeli, Edward VII, George IV, The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici, and Cavaliers and Roundheads.

Described by Professor Sir John Plumb as "a writer of the highest ability and in the New Statesman as "a pearl of biographers," he established himself as a leading popular historian/biographer whose works reflected meticulous scholarship.

Reviews

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly readable account of Il Duce's rise and fall. Other reviewers have found Hibbert to be too forgiving of Mussolini, but personally, I thought the coverage was rather good. I would have- as usual - appreciated more maps, but really did enjoy this biography which fills in some blanks for me.

Like Hitler, Mussolini was not really that great at school. However, unlike Hitler who was a quiet loner, Il Duce was a rowdy bruiser - kicked out of two or three schools and subsequently in and out of prison until he was in his 20s. Like Hitler: he read a lot and derived most of his knowledge from his choice of books, he spoke extremely well in public and had a magnetic personality and mesmerizing gaze, he hated the petit bourgeoisie (with an unhealthy amount of jealousy and imitation). The book, however, spends a relatively small amount of space on his development as a person. By page 47, he has already made his march on Rome and become a dictator. He is responsible for the name of fascism, which for him was the absolute sublimation of the individual to the state preserving nonetheless private control over enterprises (as opposed to communism where private property and private control is, at least in theory, abolished). As for the Jews, Mussolini was a racist and an anti-Semite, but - unlike Hitler - it was not the core of his passion. Il Duce did have a passion for Italy and Italian culture and that was really the primary motivator for him, making Italy great again. We also owe the word "Axis" for the Italo-Germano-Japanese alliance in WWII where he said that Berlin-Rome would be the axis around which all countries that wanted liberty would spin in Europe.

As to what went right and wrong in Italy under Il Duce, on the upside, he did lots of publics works projects - buildings, roads, bridges - as well as infrastructure - the trains ran on time for the first time in Italy! - so it was sort of a violently enforced New Deal in a manner of speaking. The flipside, of course, was the muzzling of the free press, the harassment and violence against political opponents, the failed attempt at creating an Italian empire out of their holdings in Ethiopia (which cost tens of thousands of lives), and the state of disrepair of the military. His relationship to Hitler was similar, sort of, to that of Napoleon and Alexander, in that there was some mutual admiration and yet distrust. Another things they had in common was probably having contracted syphilis - in the case of Mussolini, this was confirmed and probably explained his erratic behavior near the end of his life.

Mussolini was revered by the Italians while he was a winner, but as soon as the bottom started falling out of his reign, they abandoned him. About half of this book is about this fall in excruciating slow motion. Another reason for this reversal of his fortunes, was the extreme unpopularity of his mistress Claretta Petacci - the family around them were total leeches, but - to her credit perhaps - Claretta herself stood by her lover all the way until the bitter end, even when she could have escaped to Spain or Switzerland.

Mussolini's reign was toppled in 1943 by a coup of his closest advisors. He was arrested and imprisoned but then rescued in a true James Bond fashion (by German gliders!) and was installed as the dictator of a new "Socialist Republic" by Hitler centered around the Lake Como and the town of Salò. This was a particularly sad time where Mussolini lost most of his will power. It was also starting with his fall that the Jews started being sent to the camps in Germany and Poland from Italy as he could no longer stop this process.

Hibbert's Mussolini was, then, revelatory for me about many aspects of Il Duce's life and times and complimented my reading of Ullrich's Hitler Ascent and Atkinson's Day of Battle. Again, I don't feel it white-washed Mussolini of his crimes, but it did spend a disproportionate amount of time talking about his fall and ignoble end. I still think it is worthy of 3.5 or 4.0/5.0 stars due to its neutrality and grasp of so many documents about Il Duce.

I would also highly recommend Hibbert's The Destruction of Lord Raglan which was equally excellent.

[Stefan Mitev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Бащата на фашизма, Бенито Мусолини, може да бъде описан с една дума - опортюнист. Използвайки всяка налична възможност, независимо от последиците, той успява да се издигне от социалните низини до диктатор на италианската "империя". Започва кариерата си като журналист със социалистически възгледи. След края на Първата световна война бързо се преориентира към радикални действия и през 1922 г. извършва "Поход към Рим", с който взема властта. Още тогава политическата му кариера е можела да бъде прекратена, ако кралят бе взел решение да противопостави армията или дори полицията на все още малобройните фашисти. Но Виктор Емануел III не предприема решаващи действия, за да избегне потенциална гражданска война. Мусолини става Il Duce без насилие и пролята кръв.

Следващата хазартна стъпка е нахлуването в Абисиния (Етиопия) през 1935 г., където италианците имат огромно технологично надмощие и не се поколебават да използват химични оръжия. Обществото на народите реагира вяло, а Италия просто напуска организацията, която се проваля в основната си цел за опазване на мира. Участието в Испанската гражданска война допълнително сближава фашистка Италия и нацистка Германия и през 1939 г. те сключват "пакт на стоманата" за военна взаимопомощ.

Колкото и странно да звучи, Мусолини е реалист за възможностите на Италия спрямо западните съюзници. Той знае, че страната не е готова за участие в нова световна война, затова не оказва никаква помощ на Хитлер при превземането на Полша, Дания, Норвегия, Белгия и Холандия. Италия се включва във Втората световна война на 10 юни 1940 г., когато на абсолютно всеки е ясно, че Франция ще бъде превзета и окупирана. Но проблемите тепърва започват. Италианските армии са разбити в Северна Африка и Гърция. Налага се Мусолини да търси помощ от Хитлер и постепенно става негова марионетка, особено след спасяването му при специална операция от връх Гран Сасо, където е държан като затворник.

Краят на Мусолини е печален. През април 1945 г. заедно с любовницата си Кларета Петачи е заловен от комунистически партизани. До последно той има възможност да избяга в неутралните Швейцария или Испания, но решава да не го прави, като прекарва последните си дни в четене на философски книги и размишления за мястото му в световната история. Партизаните разстрелват диктатора и любовницата му и закачат телата им на стълбове в центъра на Милано, където са обругани от тълпата. Само ден по-късно, за да избегне подобна съдба, Хитлер сам слага край на живота си.

Възходът и падението на Мусолини трябва да се познават от съвременните политици. Стремежът към власт на всяка цена има своите крайно неприятни последици.

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 2 out of 5]

Superficial biography of Benito Mussolini. Hibbert's portrait seems curiously sympathetic to Il Duce, skimming over his regime's actions (Ethiopia gets a page, the long guerrilla war in Libya nothing) and ideology (his economic policies, a few scattered paragraphs) while presenting Mussolini as a strong-willed, arrogant, erratic but largely well-meaning dictator. Other major figures drift aimlessly through the narrative: Marshal Balbo, Mussolini's chief military advisor and rival, is mentioned frequently, but Hibbert doesn't even mention his suspicious death early in WWII. After rushing through the balance of Mussolini's life, Hibbert devotes nearly half the book to Mussolini's life after losing power - thus, two years takes up as much of the book as the previous sixty. Of English-language volumes, more recent books by R.J.B. Bosworth, Christopher Duggan - heck, George Seldes's old Sawdust Caesar - give much better portraits of Fascist Italy and its mercurial ruler.

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Likely the best all around account of Mussolini. It can be accused of being a bit sympathetic but Hibbert does not shy away from his failures. It is not surprising. Analysis of personality was always Hibbert's strength.

[Tioarifi · Rating 4 out of 5]

۱۶ آبان ماه ۱۴۰۳
موسولینی عاشق تاریخ بود که اون و بعد ها چطور قضاوت میکنن و فقط اشتباهی که داشت با آلمان هم‌پیمان شد...
وگرنه دیکتاتور نبود.

[Jaye Galland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hibbert writes with a rare impartiality, giving us a good idea of who Mussolini was as both a leader, statesmen, but also a person. From his restlessness in his youth as a driven socialist, committed to the justice he believed was kept from the workers, to his turn to the belief in a national, rather than class-based, community. Mussolini as dictator is far more level-headed and prudent than one would believe based on simple surface level skimming of WWII history. He was well-respected, especially by the British Conservative Party and actively collaborated with France and Britain in keeping Germany "on the other side of Austria" and out of the Rhineland. His government actually was able to make Italy a world power during its tenure, and oversaw increase in industrialization and large agrarian production increases.
The Abyssinian invasion is also far more layered than simple history lends one to believe. While Italy, as Hibbert notes, no doubt committed the war crime of using poison gas in the war, the Abyssinian nation was both one rife with genocide/ethnic cleansing and a large number of slaves (whom Italy freed). Mussolini lost favor with many democratic european statesmen following this war, but became more popular at home because of it. One statesmen who continued to insist that Mussolini should be trusted and allied with was Churchill; who assessed correctly that without Italy, the French and British could not keep Hitler out of Austria. Hibbert shows that Mussolini was wary and hostile to Hitler initially, and only considered friendship after the British sanctions placed on Italy during their war. Mussolini called Hitler's bluff when the German dictator attempted to annex Austria in 1934. A furious Mussolini mobilized and sent four divisions (about 35-40,000 troops) to the Austro-Italian border, while requesting French and British support if a war was to happen. This episode certainly was a valuable lesson that the French and British could have learned from in confronting Hitler.
After this, Hibbert writes on Mussolini's oscillating attitude toward Germany. When Britain was open to reconciliation, he spoke harshly of Germany; when Britain showed aggression toward Italian interests and status, he moved closer to Germany. His nephew, Count Ciano, was anti-German and tried to keep Mussolini from entering the war. He was successful for a time and when Germany invaded Holland and Belgium, Mussolini "hoped for the first time for a German defeat" according to his diary. But after France fell, Mussolini did at last enter the war at the consent of King Victor Immanuele.
The most interesting part of the book was Hibbert's research and detailing of Mussolini after his fall from power. He loses his confidence but also becomes humble. He recognizes defeat is coming from the moment he is overthrown and then reinstated by the Germans. An interesting quote from him was when he was informed of an allied Italian brigade fighting against the Germans with great success. He nodded, and said "Good." His adjutant said, "But sir, they are fighting the Germans!" Mussolini replied, "They are Italians and they are fighting bravely. That is all that matters." The priest on the island he'd been banished to said that his time in exile had "turned this great man into a good Christian". (Mussolini had never been religious prior to this, having taken after his socialist father rather than his Catholic mother). Mussolini confided that he was no longer afraid and that death was "a thank you to God who has suffered so much".
He was reluctant to attempt to escape Italy, preferring to holdout in the mountains away from the civilians with as many loyal Blackshirts as he could find. Proper preparations for such a plan were not made (no messages were sent out to the thousands of Blackshirts left in Italy), and when the Germans insisted that they escort him to Switzerland, only eleven Blackshirts, a couple of officers, and a few members of the Italian Air Force had arrived to fight alongside Mussolini. Hence, the fateful escape. Mussolini ordered the Germans to stand down if it came to a shootout with partisans and was captured. He was not going to be executed originally, and the young Communists partisans were actually very curious to sit down and listen to him and ask questions. Two rogue members executed him the morning after his capture. What stood out to me was that, when speaking with the young Communists, one of them recounted this. 'He [Mussolini] told me and my mate, "Youth is beautiful, beautiful!" My mate smiled when he said this and he continued, "Yes, yes, I mean it! Youth is beautiful! I love the youth even when they bear arms against me." This book is so packed with information, history, and is a great character study on top of that.

[Mami · Rating 5 out of 5]

آزادی یک هدف نیست. آزادی یک وسیله است و همچون وسیله باید کنترلش کرد"

" جمعیت مردان قوی را دوست دارد جمعیت مثل یک زن است "

"من شخصاً پنجاه هزار تفنگ را به پنج میلیون رای ترجیح میدهم "

ظهور و سقوط دوچه
نویسنده:کریستوفر هیبرت
مترجم:بیژن اشتری
نشر ثالث

بنیتو موسولینی معروف به دوچه
دیکتاتور ایتالیا ی فاشیست و یک از رهبر های گروه محور (متحدین) در جنگ جهانی دوم بود.
او از لحاظ شخصیتی غرق فساد اخلاقی بود و تعداد تجاوز هایی که در دوران قبل از به قدرت رسیدن انجام داده بود حداقل بیش از سی بار بود و معشوقه هایی زیادی بعد از قدرت رسیدن داشت(منکران این موضوع می توانند بیماری سفلیس موسولینی را پیگیری کنند) و همسر و فرزندانش از انها آگاه بودند معروف ترین این معشوقه ها کلارا پتاچی بود و او و خوانواده اش با استفاده از نام موسولینی ایتالیا را غارت میکردند ولی درست بود که موسولینی غرق در فساد های اخلاقی بود ولی او فساد مالی و دزدی نمیکرد حتی یک خانه شخصی هم نداشت.
ابتدا باید از هوش بالای او سخن به میان آورد که شاید همین علت بود او توانست برای بیشتر مدت بیست سال بر ایتالیا حاکمیت کنید . او در ابتدا معلم بود و وقتی وارد گروه های سوسیالیست شد توانست طی مدتی که در این گروه ها فعال بود و با روزنامه نگاری شهرت بسیار زیادی کسب کند و این را هم می توان از عواملی دانست که او توانست خودش را به ملت معرفی کند .
او رفته رفته سر اختلاف نظر های گوناگون از جمله سر جنگ جهانی اول و... از سوسیالیست جدا شد (ولی او تا اخر عمر سوسیالیسم را در وجود خود حفظ کرد مثلا در فاز دوم رژیم فاشیسیتی موسوم به رژیم فاشیست جمهوری خواه این اندیشه ها را بیشتر بروز داد)
بعد از جدایی از سوسیالیست ها او اندیشه های خودش را در قالب فاشیسم فرمول بندی کرد.
بعد او طی مدت پس از عضوگیری به سوی رم راه پیمایی کرد و توانست پیشنهاد نخست وزیری را از پادشاه بگیرید (نخست وزیران قبلی به فاشیسم زیادی میدان دادند تا بتوانند خطر بلشویسم را از ایتالیا دور کنند)
او توسط اپوزیسیون توطئه گر خود(این اپوزیسیون خارج از کشور یا حتی خارج از حکومت نبود بلکه از سرا رژیم بودند) و پادشاه برکنار شد و به هتلی (درست است که هتل بود ولی به هر حال زندان بود)در قله کوه تبعید شد ولی هیتلر یار دیرین او توانست نجاتش دهد‌.
او پس از نجات توسط المانی ها بر صندلی رژیم فاشیستی جدید با پسوند جمهوری خواه نشست ولی با تسلیم المان ها رژیم جدیدش از بین رفت و او به طرز فجیعی اعدام شد.

[Arash Foroutan · Rating 5 out of 5]

از صفحات ۴۰۵، ۴۱۵-۴۱۴ کتاب
(حاوی اسپویلر)

"من باید به کوهستان‌ها بروم. مطمئناً پیدا کردن پانصد مرد وفادار که مایل به دنبال کردنم باشند امر ناممکنی نیست"
...

موسولینی به نشانه موافقت شانه‌ای بالا انداخت و به همه دستور داد که شب را در گراندولا بمانند و صبح ساعت پنج به طرف مناتجیو حرکت کنند. اواضافه کرد که تا آن زمان سه هزار نیروی پاوولینی هم به مناتجیو خواهند رسید. او طوری حرف زد که کاملاً معلوم بود خودش هم هیچ اعتقادی به گفته‌اش ندارد، و هیچ کسی هم حرف او را باور نکرد.
پاوولینی در ساعات اولیه صبح ۲۷ آوریل سوار بر یک زره‌پوش از کامو به مناتجیو رسید. باران همچنان می‌بارید، و النا کورتی کوجیاتی بعدها به خاطر آورد که موقعی که پاوولینی وارد هتل شد قطرات باران همه صورتش را خیس کرده بود. پاوولینی خبر آورد که آن پیراهن سیاه‌های وفاداری که قول کشته شدن در کنار دوچه را داده بودند، جملگی در کومو قرارداد تسلیم را امضا کرده و خودشان را تسلیم پارتیزان‌ها کرده بودند. پاوولینی فقط توانسته بود تعداد معدودی از آنها را همراه خودش بیاورد.
موسولینی با نگرانی پرسید: «چند نفر»؟
پاوولینی سکوت کرد.
«خب، به من بگو. چند نفر؟»
«دوازده نفر.»
این پایان امید بود.

[Tim Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a bit of a whitewash, portraying Mussolini as more sinned against than sinning. There is not the slightest mention of the atrocities committed in Africa during his rule.

[Julio The Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnificent mini-essay on the rise, fall and execution of a megalomaniac who promised his mother "I will one day make the Earth tremble" and wound up hanged by the heels at Milan besides his mistress. Christopher Hibbert writes of a life the stuff of tragic and comic Italian grand opera. Hibbert combines the analytical skills of the historian with a novelist's insight and turn of phrase. Who else could tell us of the staggering blow Mussolini received at the death of his brother Arnaldo, his only confidante and intellectual peer? Or make the post-Salo Mussolini seem pitiful, tragic and richly deserving of his fate?

[Ramtin · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتابي عالي با ترجمه اي فوق العاده جانانه.

[Malihe63 · Rating 5 out of 5]

مثل همیشه کتابهای مجموعه سرخ بیژن اشتری فوق العاده هستن به خصوص برای من که علاقه خاصی به مطالعه زندگی و سرگذشت دیکتاتورها پیدا کردم

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written, as all Hibbert's books are, but badly unbalanced biography of Mussolini. Half of the book is taken up with the last two years of his life which were the least interesting, when he had been stripped of all agency and reduced to being a stooge of Hitler. Much of this is just a chronicle of Il Duce drifting aimlessly around northern Italy as the Allies and partisans close in on him.

[Wasp26 · Rating 4 out of 5]

دا أول كتاب قرأته على الاطلاق فى مكتبة الكلية فى السنة الاولى لما كنت شاب غرير ممتلئ بالحياة .الكتاب كان رائع و مشوّق تماما .و للأسف مدى الدقة مقدرش احكم عليها لأنى مقرأتش غير الكتاب دا عن موسولينى.لكن الروح العامة للكتاب نفس الروح العامة لمسرحية عربة تسمى الرغبة اللى بلسان تينسيى ويليامز كانت عايزة تقول "سيرث القردة الأرض ".

[Royce Ratterman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Social Democrats, Liberals, Socialist Agitators, Dictators, Totalitarians, and Fascists... unite! Or not. We see the torrid life of Benito Mussolini's life reflected through the mirror of history within the pages of this historic work. Mussolini's family tree, photographs, a map, and pages of detailed sources, are a welcome addition for the reader- 1962 ed. It is reported that Mussolini had little interest in monetary complement for himself. When all is provided for oneself, in addition to power, money can certainly cloud the pathway to increasing power and control.

Mussolini agreed that National Socialism "was authoritarian, collectivist, anti-parliamentary, and, of course, anti-democratic. He also did not adhere to Hitler's German Socialist Party's mandate, by Hitler, of the idea of a master race and dismissed it as "arrant nonsense, stupid and idiotic" and described Anti-Semitism as "the German vice." But, as the reader will observe, political situations are often dictated by those higher up the hierarchy, especially when one is in a dire strait: "I knew that my friend Adolf Hitler would not desert me" and... "Hitler and I have surrendered ourselves to our illusions like a couple of lunatics. We have only hope left--to create a myth."

As we reflect upon the words of Friedrich Nietzsche: "Socialism itself can hope to exist only for brief periods here and there, and then only through the exercise of the extremist terrorism. For this reason it is secretly preparing itself for rule through fear and is driving the word 'justice' into the heads of the masses like a nail so as to rob them of reason... and to create in them a good conscience for the evil game they are to play." - from 'Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits'

- Excerpts:

"He [Mussolini] rushed through various works of Lassalle, Kautsky, Kropotkin, Marx and Schopenhauer, Sterner and Nietzsche, Blanqui and Bertoni... Babœuf, Proudhon, Kant and Spinoza, Hegel, Fichte, Sorel and Guyau, and... 'his philosophical views were always the reflection of the book he had happened to read last'."

"Liberty is not an end. It is a means. As a means, it must be controlled and dominated." -Benito Mussolini

"Fascism... rejects democratic theories of the State and proposes that society does not exist for the individual but the individual for society."

"The growing suppression of liberty... was accepted as a necessity if Italy was to become strong and throw off the atrophy of dissension which had been crippling her for years... The gradual denial of freedom to the Press... the spreading of Fascist ethics into every aspect of Italian life which could be infected, even the violent punishments dealt out to outspoken critics of the régime, were accepted by the great majority of people as essential prerequisites to the establishment of the sort of Italy which was promised them."

"'Shoot me in the chest,' he [Mussolini] said. Geminazza heard the words distinctly. They were the last that Mussolini spoke... he slid slowly to the ground with his legs bent under him. He was not dead... Audisio went up to him and shot him again in the chest. Mussolini's body jerked violently and then laid still... Look at his expression. Doesn't it suit him?"

- Other Mussolini Quotes -

“Socialism is a fraud, a comedy, a phantom, a blackmail.”

"Liberty is not an end. It is a means. As a means, it must be controlled and dominated."

“The truth is that men are tired of liberty.”

“Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy.”

“The Liberal State is a mask behind which there is no face; it is a scaffolding behind which there is no building.”

“Let us have a dagger between our teeth, a bomb in our hands, and an infinite scorn in our hearts.”

“It's good to trust others but, not to do so is much better.”

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although in the Twenty-First Century Mussolini has faded from view somewhat, he was for a time a significant actor on the World stage, as well as being the founder of the Fascist ideology that found its dreadful apotheosis in Hitler's Germany. Mussolini sought to change Italy, to turn it into a corporatised, twentieth-century state, into an empire, and into a military power. He failed on all three counts. And yet there are those groups of Italians - apart from the greedy and corrupt hangers-on of the regime - for whom Mussolini's rule improved their lives, and for whom, until the onset of war, he was a hero.

Mussolini started out as a socialist, and to the end that was his claim; that he was always for the worker. He was also for the State, and if the Fascist Party that he founded had one policy, it was that the State trumped all, and that the individual, industry, government and even the Church were subordinate to it. Mussolini saw himself as the embodiment of the State, and as he gained power, he lost touch more and more with what was going on in the country.

Christopher Hibbert, a professional historian and writer who is probably better-known for his books about English history, served in Italy during the War. Benito Mussolini is a well-written, serviceable account of Il Duce's life, although it centres too much on the War years and Mussolini's relationship with Hitler to be classed as a definitive biography. In fact there is very little discussion of politics or economics in this book at all. While we get an insight into the character of Mussolini, the reader will finish this book with little idea of how the Fascists were run, how Italy was financed, or how opposition to Mussolini grew.

Hibbert has drawn for us a Mussolini who was vain and insecure, who was out-of-touch most of the time, and who for much of the time was more concerned with his legacy than with governing. Unfortunately for Il Duce, the people he had around him were ineffectual, greedy or corrupt (or all three) and so a period of rule that began with some promise (Fascist Italy was lauded by many international politicians including Churchill) ended in shambolic disarray.

It was Mussolini's vanity and pride and his desire for glory, which led him to the disastrous decision to invade Greece, over the objections of his advisers. It is in descriptions of these decisions where Hibbert's lack of an economic or political viewpoint lets his biography down. Italy just could not afford to be a major military power. In fact during the War she relied on Germany for the raw material and industrial equipment with which to fight.

Hibbert's book is most effective in demonstrating Mussolini's ineffectiveness, especially after Germany came to his aid in Greece. Hibbert describes Mussolini alternating between fury and resignation as his power to act became more and more circumscribed. His description of Mussolini's last few weeks contains some good and dramatic writing. It's worth noting here the Hibbert wrote this book in 1960, and he was one of the first English-language writers to map out the final months of Mussolini's life, and so perhaps it is natural that he focuses more on this matter than he perhaps should.

I'm not sure if I recommend this book - I have yet to read the award-winning biography by Bosworth, which is probably the go-to book in English on Mussolini's life as I write. However, Benito Mussolini is a good read and interesting in it's own way.

Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/

[Mami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freedom is not a goal. "Freedom is a tool and should be controlled as a tool."

"The crowd loves strong men. The crowd is like a woman."

"I personally prefer 50,000 guns to five million votes."

The rise and fall of the two
Author: Christopher Hebert
Translator: Bijan Ashtari
Third Edition

Benito Mussolini known as Doce
The Italian dictator was a fascist and one of the group's allied leaders in World War II.
He was characteristically immersed in moral corruption, and the number of rapes he had committed before he came to power was at least thirty times greater, and he had many mistresses after coming to power (deniers of this can trace the illness of Mussolini's syphilis). And his wife and children were aware of them. The most famous of these mistresses was Clara Petachi. He didn't even have a private house.
First of all, we need to talk about his high intelligence, which is probably why he was able to rule Italy for more than twenty years. He was a teacher in the beginning, and when he joined the socialist groups, he was able to gain a lot of fame during his time working in these groups and with journalism, and this can be considered as one of the factors that he was able to introduce himself to the nation.
Gradually, he separated from the socialist due to various disagreements, such as the First World War, etc. (But he maintained socialism until the end of his life. For example, in the second phase of the fascist regime called the Republican Fascist regime, these ideas Further updated)
After separating from the socialists, he formulated his ideas in the form of fascism.
He then marched on Rome during the post-membership period, and was able to get the prime minister's offer from the king (previous prime ministers gave a lot of space to fascism so that they could remove the danger of Bolshevism from Italy).
He was ousted by his conspiratorial opposition (the opposition was not abroad or even out of government but from the regime) and the king was exiled to a hotel (although it was a hotel but still a prison) on top of the mountain, but Her longtime friend Hitler was able to save her.
After being rescued by the Germans, he took the seat of the new fascist regime with the Republican suffix, but with the surrender of the elements, his new regime was destroyed and he was brutally executed.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really should review this book in two parts. First, the good part lies in the discussion of Mussolini's role in World War II. The author does a great job describing the Duce's relationship with Hitler and the mistakes Italy made in the first few years of the war. The author also goes into detail on Mussolini's fall and eventual death.

The second part is less compelling. I started the book hoping to learn more about what brought Mussolini to power, his Fascist believes, and who he was as a man. These are not as well covered in the book. The author drops names of Italian politicians and philosophers from the 1920's and 30's expecting the reader to know who they are. The policies implemented once the Fascists came to power are not examined in any detail. They are merely stated as facts. There is really no discussion on what separates fascism from socialism. Thus the first half of the book is confusing and somewhat dull. It is only when the narrative reaches 1938 and the prelude to the war that, for me, the book becomes truly interesting.

As a book on Italy's role in World War II, and more specifically Mussolini's, this book is quite goo. But little will be learned of of the events and background before then.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since the advent of Donald Trump, I’ve been interested to learn more about other recent megalomaniacs. Mussolini is a harder nut to crack than was Hitler. He had some native intelligence (setting him in contrast to Trump), he didn’t talk at nauseam for hours just to hear his own voice (setting him in contrast to both Hitler and Trump). He wasn’t as cruel as he could have been (he actually would roll his eyes at all the antisemitism spewed by Hitler).
But he did love power, thought he was a “savior”, governed a largely lazy people who were happier to just be happy than to be great, and he was really turned on by other strongmen (sound familiar?).
I am conflicted at the end of reading this book. While he was terrible and needed to be ended, and was unforgivably susceptible to doing what Hitler and the Germans told him he must do, he wasn’t personally the monster that I thought he was (didn’t hold a candle to Hitler). What is really clear - and has been in all cases in my reading of this period - is that the greatest villain in this story remains Adolph Hitler and his millions of willing accomplices.

[Slávek Rydval · Rating 3 out of 5]

Podrobný popis vzestupu i pádu Hitlerova souputníka. Obsahuje velké množství informací ze života duceho a jeho činů a politických rozhodnutí. To, co mi na knize hodně vadilo, byly chybějící informace o důsledcích takových činů/rozhodnutí. To, že poslal vojáky do Řecka, je fajn údaj, ale k čemu to vedlo? Jakou úlohu tedy např. sehrála Itálie ve 2. světové válce, se nedozvíte. Stejně tak bez dalšího studia nelze zcela pochopit knihu popisující situaci po zatčení a únosu Mussoliniho. Z tohoto důvodu nelze dát více než tři hvězdičky (dal bych hodnocení tak 2,6).

[Garry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography of the Italian politician, dictator and founder of modern fascism. After a relatively quick and concise review of most of Mussolini's life, the second half (part III) of Christopher Hibbert's biography concerns the details of the Duce's last 2 and a half years in much greater detail.

With so many books on Hitler, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt, it is rewarding to find a well written book on Benito Mussolini.

[Jonas Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m n many ways an interesting account, but one of my pet peeves with historical narratives is the attempt to tell the story from within the room. This becomes speculative and dependent on eye witnesses’ imperfect memories. This is further compounded by not providing clear references as to who said what - allowing the reader to take a critical view as to the veracity and potential biases involved. Decent book otherwise.

[Julie Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

80% of the book felt like an encyclopedia - though the last 20% felt like a suspense movie during Mussolini's last few days of his life. I learned much from this book and have a much greater appreciation of Mussolini's value and successes besides the small amount I learned in school. I am glad that I read the book.

[Okidoki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gav mycket fakta. Men var inte så fängslande förutom episoden om tyskarnas fritagning av Musse från italiensk fångenskap. Hur kunde det lyckas? Inga bilder i boken. Den gav mig ingen förståelse för mannen eller folket.

[George Hodgson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid read. Very good first read of the life of a rather pitiful man. It would have been more complete if there was more epilogue of what happened to Italy following Mussolini as well as what happened with surviving members of his family.

[Thomas Keller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just wanted to find out from the source what fascism was. A classic example of concept drift where only complete amnesia allows fascism to become a slur in the hands of social justice warriors. Mind the gap!

[Amin Arvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

یکی از بهترین کتاب هایی بیوگرافی که تا الان مطالعه کردم. کتاب به خوبی نه تنها تصویری از موسولینی بلکه یک دیکتاتور رو ترسیم میکنه. همچنین از نقاط قوت کتاب اختصاص یافتن قسمت بیشتر اون به حوادث رخ داده در پی سقوط وافول موسیلینی و سرانجام مرگ این دیکتاتوراست

[Stephen Bedard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be an engaging account of a complex figure. I began by feeling complete disgust toward and him and over time began to feel some sympathy for him. This is the story of a person who went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.

[Evan Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing piece of nonfiction, written in 1957, but as fresh today as when it was published. Mostly befitting the last five years or so of Mussolini’s life, the reports of his imprisonment, and later of his demise are fascinating

[Allie Neschandar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow...