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Le mystère Mussolini (Tempus)
" La " biographie de Mussolini enfin disponible en poche.
Grand Prix de la Biographie Politique 2021 ; Prix du Nouveau Cercle de l'Union 2022 ; Liste des 30 livres de l'année 2021 duPoint.
" Ce livre n'est ni une biographie au sens strict de Mussolini ni une histoire du fascisme italien mais la première tentative – et pas seulement en France – d'essayer de dévoiler le "mystère' d'un personnage qui ne ressemble véritablement à aucun des dictateurs, de droite ou de gauche, au XXe siècle mais qui, d'une certaine mesure, les résume tous, de Lénine à Castro " (M. Serra).
Homme et leader politique extrêmement complexe, pétri de contradictions, puisant ses modèles chez Napoléon puis César avant d'être fasciné par Hitler, le Duce peut donner l'image d'un comédien tragique au sens nietzschéen du terme, et d'un révolutionnaire manqué. Il a pourtant modernisé son pays et fasciné l'Europe avant de sombrer dans la déchéance et les haines d'une guerre civile prenant la relève de la guerre mondiale.
Maurizio Serra raconte ce destin sinueux et passionnant sur la base d'une documentation impeccable, dans un style fluide qui s'inscrit dans la filiation d'Italo Svevo et a fait la réputation de ses magistrales biographies de Malaparte ou D'Annunzio. Un très grand livre.
- Grand Prix de la biographie politique 2021.
- Prix du Nouveau Cercle de l'Union 2022.
- Liste des 30 livres de l'année 2021 duPoint.
589 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 7, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 28, 2024
Un biographie extrêmement intéressante de Mussolini. L'auteur apporte beaucoup de nuances et montre bien les évolutions de tempérament du personagge au cours de sa vie en fonction des événements.
July 1, 2024
People should REALLY stop fucking talking about fascism because they watched Porco Rosso twice and read two news article who told them what to think.
And
they need to stop ordering and intimidating people about what to think this or that like totalitarian people they denounce.
And
they need to stop telling how people must think or vote… People are not children and can think by themselves if they read that type of book…
and
They should read REAL complex history books about fascism like this amazing one, to learn how to think by themselves and FOR themselves , by the way wonderfully written, felt like a thriller… very fun sometimes .
———————
What we can learn there is Mussolini was a mega ego maniac with no moral at all, was spreading a mix of socialist and petit bourgeois ideology, for sure, and was ready to do and especially say Anything even contradictory in order to be in power. He was a COMEDIAN. He was lying 100% all the time. He destroyed every party, to rule, he was ready to divide every side and raise every extremes party to then destroy them when not needing them, to rule. He started wars and invasion to keep ruling to be at the top. His ego was non existent at the point he needed constant validation from every other leaders . He was extremely pathetic.
He was ready to collaborate with Hitler and become antisemitic by opportunism but not by believing it , more in a passive way, like « life of others does not matter as long as I i stay in charge »… to rule even at the price of the worst crime ever committed.. at the end it makes no difference in term of the awfulness of the crime of course but that is interesting to learn about what happened.
his narcissism had no limit. He had so much pleasure to feel people submit to him. That s about it.
Italian never really were believing his shit, it was less totalitarian in a way they were not so much forced to believe in that. But they were certainly forced to execute the orders… many tried to avoid it.
All of this was in Order to keep him in power much more than for a real national project. At the end , Italian people HATED him more than anyone on earth.
He was a pure piece of shit , Less ideological and more ego maniac in his psychopath style.
And
they need to stop ordering and intimidating people about what to think this or that like totalitarian people they denounce.
And
they need to stop telling how people must think or vote… People are not children and can think by themselves if they read that type of book…
and
They should read REAL complex history books about fascism like this amazing one, to learn how to think by themselves and FOR themselves , by the way wonderfully written, felt like a thriller… very fun sometimes .
———————
What we can learn there is Mussolini was a mega ego maniac with no moral at all, was spreading a mix of socialist and petit bourgeois ideology, for sure, and was ready to do and especially say Anything even contradictory in order to be in power. He was a COMEDIAN. He was lying 100% all the time. He destroyed every party, to rule, he was ready to divide every side and raise every extremes party to then destroy them when not needing them, to rule. He started wars and invasion to keep ruling to be at the top. His ego was non existent at the point he needed constant validation from every other leaders . He was extremely pathetic.
He was ready to collaborate with Hitler and become antisemitic by opportunism but not by believing it , more in a passive way, like « life of others does not matter as long as I i stay in charge »… to rule even at the price of the worst crime ever committed.. at the end it makes no difference in term of the awfulness of the crime of course but that is interesting to learn about what happened.
his narcissism had no limit. He had so much pleasure to feel people submit to him. That s about it.
Italian never really were believing his shit, it was less totalitarian in a way they were not so much forced to believe in that. But they were certainly forced to execute the orders… many tried to avoid it.
All of this was in Order to keep him in power much more than for a real national project. At the end , Italian people HATED him more than anyone on earth.
He was a pure piece of shit , Less ideological and more ego maniac in his psychopath style.
August 17, 2025
Being a Russian born in 1961 I had a very vague idea what was going on in Italy under Mussolini. Several years ago I read the Ciano's diaries, and yesterday finished this book, It is very well written and gives the whole picture of Italy from 1922 through 1945. The book is really amazing. Maurizio Serra interviewed a number of persons who witnessed the events or were the relatives of them. I would call it meta-biography since it covers (I think) everything written about Mussolini.
I came across of this book reading the biography of Malaparte, also written by Mr. Serra -- he quoted it in references.
I hope it will soon be translated to English (actually, it would need editorial work since it is written for French with many references from French history) and get larger audience.
I came across of this book reading the biography of Malaparte, also written by Mr. Serra -- he quoted it in references.
I hope it will soon be translated to English (actually, it would need editorial work since it is written for French with many references from French history) and get larger audience.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews