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Sawdust Caesar: The Untold History of Mussolini and Fascism
459 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1935
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About the author
George Seldes
78 books24 followersInvestigative reporter and muckraking journalist. Author of twenty-one books. Publisher of a political newsletter called "In Fact." Crusader for press freedom. Dissenter and freethinker. One of the first to expose the dangers of tobacco smoking. Born in New Jersey, died in Vermont.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 26, 2015
When this book came out in 1935, Mussolini was being praised in the Western media as a hero who kept the “red menace” out of Italy. It debunks such claims, and issues a stern warning to Americans about the true nature of Fascism. Mussolini “learned his Machiavelli well,” says the author; that is the key to understanding him. He leaves no doubts about Mussolini’s complicity in the murder of Matteotti, calling it “a necessary step in the consolidation of power.”
Seldes is biased against Mussolini, but objective and honest in his facts. He insists that he holds no grudge for his expulsion from Italy in 1925. He knew Mussolini as a fellow journalist in Italy and draws on editorials penned by him, as well as on documents smuggled out by American journalists in Rome.
He examines the corporate state and concludes that Fascism is a failure because the masses of people are worse off. He criticizes Mussolini’s human rights record and his suppression of press freedom. Fascist economic claims are fraudulent, he says, and Mussolini doesn’t even make the trains run on time!
Seldes warns Americans that fascism already exists in America and needs only a demagogue to mobilize it into a dangerous force.
Seldes is biased against Mussolini, but objective and honest in his facts. He insists that he holds no grudge for his expulsion from Italy in 1925. He knew Mussolini as a fellow journalist in Italy and draws on editorials penned by him, as well as on documents smuggled out by American journalists in Rome.
He examines the corporate state and concludes that Fascism is a failure because the masses of people are worse off. He criticizes Mussolini’s human rights record and his suppression of press freedom. Fascist economic claims are fraudulent, he says, and Mussolini doesn’t even make the trains run on time!
Seldes warns Americans that fascism already exists in America and needs only a demagogue to mobilize it into a dangerous force.
February 15, 2013
This book first appeared in 1935, when many westerners (liberal and conservative alike) regarded Mussolini as a possible role model. Seldes' critical volume provided a valuable corrective. Seldes, an American journalist, meticulously documents Fascist Italy's failings, from its inept policies and incoherent ideology to its brutal repression and imperial adventures. Most of Seldes' opprobrium lands on Mussolini, neither the romantic strongman nor comic opera buffoon but an ambitious street thug elevated to power. Still worth reading, if only for the reminder that Hitler's junior partner was a monster in his own right.
September 4, 2020
Published in 1935. Seldes was an American journalist who interviewed the political giants of them time including Lenin and Hindenburg. His unfiltered expression of his opinion in print got him expelled from both the USSR and Italy.
The book paints a vivid picture of Mussolini's personality and includes Seldes encounters with him as an international member of the press. The timeline of Mussolini's life (up until 1935) includes dozens of assassination attempts, political intrigue, and gun fighting in the streets as Benito claws his way to totalitarian rule of Italy.
This very readable book is like stepping into a time machine and viewing the chaos of Italy on the verge of WW2.
The book paints a vivid picture of Mussolini's personality and includes Seldes encounters with him as an international member of the press. The timeline of Mussolini's life (up until 1935) includes dozens of assassination attempts, political intrigue, and gun fighting in the streets as Benito claws his way to totalitarian rule of Italy.
This very readable book is like stepping into a time machine and viewing the chaos of Italy on the verge of WW2.
September 20, 2025
"All of Mussolini's monuments will be monuments to the strength of a weakling."
A journalist's account of Mussolini's rise to (and exercise of) power, written by someone who both lived through parts of it and had significant contacts with the man himself. Despite being written at a time when Fascism was still being somewhat celebrated, and even admired, it's quite a scorching read that dismantles many of its pretensions with both observations and data. It would have provided a lot of ammunition to those wanting to avoid fascist takeovers in their ovn countries to read exactly how imaginary the claims of Fascist Italy were, no matter how dramatically and repeatedly proclaimed.
Surprising for a book of its kind and date (it was first published in 1935), Hitler is conspicuous by his absence, mentioned only in passing: there are far more comparisons with Napoleon. It shows how different history looks when lived forwards.
The title is interesting: Shirer uses a similar turn of phrase to describe Mussolini in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (although he does not reference Seldes as a source). Mussolini's will to power easily overrides any principles he may have had, which makes it hard to decide whether fascism itself had any principles or was simply the inflation of one man's will: Mussolini seems to have been unclear about that himself, but resolving it may be key to understanding the modern trends towards authoritarian politics.
A journalist's account of Mussolini's rise to (and exercise of) power, written by someone who both lived through parts of it and had significant contacts with the man himself. Despite being written at a time when Fascism was still being somewhat celebrated, and even admired, it's quite a scorching read that dismantles many of its pretensions with both observations and data. It would have provided a lot of ammunition to those wanting to avoid fascist takeovers in their ovn countries to read exactly how imaginary the claims of Fascist Italy were, no matter how dramatically and repeatedly proclaimed.
Surprising for a book of its kind and date (it was first published in 1935), Hitler is conspicuous by his absence, mentioned only in passing: there are far more comparisons with Napoleon. It shows how different history looks when lived forwards.
The title is interesting: Shirer uses a similar turn of phrase to describe Mussolini in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (although he does not reference Seldes as a source). Mussolini's will to power easily overrides any principles he may have had, which makes it hard to decide whether fascism itself had any principles or was simply the inflation of one man's will: Mussolini seems to have been unclear about that himself, but resolving it may be key to understanding the modern trends towards authoritarian politics.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews