Blood and Power: The Rise and Fall of Italian Fascism

(Hardback)

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A major history of the rise and fall of Italian fascism: a dark tale of violence, ideals and a country at war. In the aftermath of the First World War, the seeds of fascism were sown in Italy. While the country reeled in shock, a new movement emerged from the chaos: one which preached hatred for politicians and love for the fatherland; one which promised to build a New Roman Empire, and make Italy a great power again. Wearing black shirts and wielding guns, knives and truncheons, the proponents of fascism embraced a climate of violence and rampant masculinity. Led by Mussolini, they would systematically destroy the organisations of the left, murdering and torturing anyone who got in their way. In Blood and Power, acclaimed historian John Foot draws on decades of research to chart the turbulent years between 1915 and 1945. Using the accounts of real people fascists, anti-fascists, communists, anarchists, victims, perpetrators and bystanders he tells the story of fascism and its legacy which still, disturbingly, reverberates to this day.

Reviews

Praise for The Archipelago: An enjoyable, highly readable history that manages to bring murky, often fiendishly complex events into the light * Sunday Times *
Its an astonishing achievement, and structurally so innovative: a pointillistic portrait of a complicated country as the title suggests. It captures the sweep of post-war Italian history but is so precise and detailed as well. The assembling of great stories, anecdotes, quotations and characters makes reading it effortless but also immensely rewarding -- Tobias Jones
[A] lively history Superbly researched * Observer *
[A] breathless and entertaining (or despairing) voyage through postwar Italy A pleasure to read. It is not just about politics. It is also full of characters, vignettes and interesting facts * Literary Review *
Admirable Foots expertise in an illuminating range of subcultures is deep * Daily Telegraph *
This deft history book guides readers through Italys turbulent, complicated (and corrupt) postwar history * The Times *

Author Bio

John Foot is the author of seven books, including the best-selling Calcio. A History of Italian Football (4th Estate, Harper, 2006), Pedalare, Pedalare. A History of Italian Cycling (Bloomsbury, 2010), Italys Divided Memory (Palgrave, 2011) and The Man who Closed the Asylums. Five of his books have been translated into Italian. He has written for Guardian, Independent on Sunday, London Review of Books and the TLS. He has appeared in a number of TV documentaries and on national and local radio. He is Professor of Modern Italian History in the University of Bristol and Director of an 8-university Doctoral Consortium funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Committee. He lives in Bristol with his partner and daughter. In the 1990s and 2000s, he lived in the city of Milan. He speaks and writes in Italian and is a regular contributor to the Italian magazine Internazionale.