The only thing I knew about Mussolini was that he was the Italian Prime Minster during WWII. I don't think we were taught anything about him in school, although I remember WWII coming up serval times! I know a lot now!
I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this and it certainly wasn't a festive read but I found this really interesting. It's written in such a way that keeps you focused in small chunks rather than throwing tonnes of information at you.
There seems to be a few of these 'teach yourself' books and I feel they would be very helpful if you were studying one of these topics at school. Or if like me, you read a lot of historical fiction and want to check out the facts.