This book presents an organic view of Benito Mussolini's youth as a radical Socialist. Because of his later career as the founder of fascism and of the first Fascist regime that set the tone for subsequent similar dictatorships, and the historical polemics regarding these developments, Mussolini's life before fascism has been neglected or distorted. The essays presented in this book will add another dimension to the interpretation of Mussolini's life in two ways: by making his activities as a revolutionary Socialist widely known and by presenting interpretations of the first phase of his political career that will be free of the polemics that frequently characterize the writings of observers and scholars in the United States, Italy, and other countries. Scholars and readers will be better equipped to understand for themselves whether and if so, how Mussolini's youthful political career influenced his later life.
This book describes Mussolini's little-known radical ideology, including his activities in Switzerland, relationship with revolutionary syndicalism, and radical journalism. It provides an in-depth treatment of the young Benito Mussolini as a revolutionary Socialist and describes the political maneuverings that took a major European Socialist party by storm before the First World War. It explains the process of how he came to dominate Italian Socialism until the crisis caused by Italy's intervention in World War I. It illuminates Mussolini's leadership qualities and his rise to leader of the Italian Socialist Party.
