Mussolini Hardcover – May 12, 1982

When selecting a biography, I attempt to find one that is as impartial as possible. Admittedly, this is not an easy task, particularly with historically evil characters. Mack Smith's portrait of Mussolini, however, did not leave me with a well-rounded understanding of the Duce's strengths and talents. Yes, he was a vain egomaniac who refused to allow anybody close enough to offer genuine criticism; this led to his ultimate downfall. That said, he remained the leader of a nation for more than two decades -- he must have possessed some impressive skills to achieve and maintain his power. Few of these skills are discussed in this book with a repetitive examination of his many faults permeating the narrative.Again, this is not to say that Mussolini did not indeed possess these poor characteristics. But a scathing review of the man and his foibles does little to help us understand the circumstances of his fascist rise. Mack Smith also, as other reviewers have noted, rarely discusses anybody near the Duce. While, yes, he purposely kept people at a distance, examining his family, mistresses, and other fascists more deeply would have given Mussolini's entire life more context.Finally, while this is a clearly objective criticism, the book was boring. Mack Smith writes as though he's composing textbook material. The entire era was fascinating! How he managed to make it tear-inducingly dry and boring is really quite astonishing.

The life of Mussolini was one that was filled with tragedy for the state of Italy. Mussolini is not lionized by Dennis Mack Smith but instead taken apart for the inadequacies in his rule during the World War 2 era. Mussolini never really had control of the situation in Italy and was most of the time a confused dictator. He believe his strength to be far greater than it was and considered Italy a great power in the world. He was quickly becoming a pawn of Hitler and his indecisiveness led Italy down a path of destruction. There is little to be proud of given the evidence posted in this book and it brings to light a perspective that should be analyzed. The book is very well written and is not bogged down in heavy detail. It highlights the salient points and provides a context for life in Italy under Mussolini. While Mussolini's thugs did terrorize the populace form time to time the country really ran as it did in the pre-fascist days. The security forces were police state at times but nominally Mussolini, especially as the war went on, quickly fell out of favor with the people. He lost his touch with reality and while no one wanted to challenge his perceptions it did not matter as Italy was driven back again and again over the course of the war. This is a must read for those who want to understand how Italy fit into world war 2 beyond simply a military context.

With the help of British and Italian government archives, Dennis Mack Smith was able to write an extraordinary biography of Italian leader Benito Mussolini.What will strike the reader in the aftermath of Donald Trump's improbable election as President of the United States, are the comparisons between the two men.First, although Mussolini had served as a famous newspaper editor and writer before his fascist movement took power, he had no more grasp of domestic or foreign issues than Trump.On that score, Mussolini, like Trump, was capable of changing his mind three or four times in a single day on one particular issue. We saw Trump, on world television last autumn, contradicting himself on a single issue within an hour, such as whether he had or had not met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whether he had or had not communicated with Putin.None other than Prince Charles has weighed in on the dangerous similarities between the financially unstable 1930s and the early 21rst century where white nationalism has reared its ugly head in western countries, where the safety nets for old age have shrunk, and working class, manufacturing jobs have been off-shored, mostly to China.Both Mussolini, as revealed in this biography, and Trump, have been beset by substantial emotional issues, and it is hard to find two world leaders in recorded history who erupted in public and private with such uncontrolled rages and anger. Mussolini, Smith tells, had a difficult relationship with his father and suffered from severe ulcers. When Mussolini was briefly in protection by German troops, German doctors found that Mussolini lacked for somebody to talk to and found the ulcers went away when he had a sounding board, in contrast to a lifetime of failed medical remedies he had been given in Italy for his ulcers.Trump, too, has the scars of a man who might not have been listened to in childhood, ranting on and on as if his audience will disappear if he backs down or retreats or stops talking, Cinderella who will turn into a pumpkin should he yield the floor or admit to the smallest mistake of fact or error of interpretation. Was he not taken as seriously in the family as his sister who became a federal judge?Like Trump, Mussolini held his own supporters in contempt, and if Trump said they would not abandon him if he shot somebody in broad day light, Mussolini complained that Italians were so dumb he could tell them anything.Like Trump, Mussolini was a master of mixed messages, knowing that those who wanted to believe in him would grab onto one of his explanations. This is particularly interesting because surveys found during the campaign that what Trump was saying on his positions and what his supporters thought he was saying often widely diverged.Like Trump, Mussolini believed he knew far more than Italian diplomats about diplomacy and far more than Italian Admirals and Generals about war. Mussolini's disastrous war with Albania, and on again, off again, alliance with Germany during World War II, were disastrous. Thus far, Trump has mostly managed to damage relations with our European allies by insulting them.Trump's creepy defense of Russian leader and chief liquidator Vladimir Putin looks a lot like Mussolini's alliance with Adolph Hitler.[Hansen Alexander's most recent books include "An Introduction to the Laws of the United States in the 21st Century," an Amazon, e-book exclusive.]

This biography is a comprehensive chronicle of Mussolini's life but does not include deeper, coherent psychological analysis of Mussolini or a political analysis of how he came to power. Because I was looking for those analyses, I was disappointed.

Book was fine, but delivery seemed unusually slow.

Has a text book feel and I was looking for something less formal. Gets down in the weeds....

So readable. Easy to follow and so insightful. Will help my teaching a hundredfold.

Excellent book. Very comprehensive. Fills in the details other biographies donot cover.

Als "sehr gut" verkauft, aber auf 50 Seiten Unterstreichungen und handschriftliche Kommentare.Entspricht also nicht der im antiquarischen Buchhandel üblichen Einstufung.

very interesting book

very good