Motorsport and Fascism: Living Dangerously

by Paul Baxa

This book is the first English-language study of motorsport and Italian Fascism, arguing that a synergy existed between motor racing and Fascism that did not exist with other sports. Motorsport was able to bring together the two dominant, and often opposed, cultural roots of Fascism, the Futurism of F. T. Marinetti, and the Decadence associated with Gabriele D’Annunzio. The book traces this cultural convergence through a topical study of motorsport in the 1920s and 1930s placing it in the context of the history of sport under Mussolini’s regime. Chapters discuss the centrality of speed and death in Fascist culture, the attempt to transform Rome into a motorsport capital, the architectural and ideological function of the Monza and Tripoli and autodromes, and two chapters on the importance of the Mille Miglia, a genuine Fascist artefact that became one of the most legendary motor races of all time.

331 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2022

Reviews

[Elliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

as the first / one of the first english sources that covers this era + motorsports ties to fascism comprehensively, the author makes a good argument for his thesis of motorsports being the union between two sides of fascist ideology and has a lot of really interesting things to say about different sporting circuits in italy and even how the fascist heritage of motorsports has long been erased. i wish the book was organized slightly differently and some technical terminology is defined before use, but overall, a relaly interesting read for anyone who wants to know more about the subject!