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Mussolini in Myth and Memory: The First Totalitarian Dictator
Mussolini in myth and memory. Paul Corner looks at the brutal reality of the Italian dictator's fascist regime and confronts the nostalgia for dictatorial rule evident today in many European countries.
Mussolini has rarely been taken seriously as a totalitarian dictator; Hitler and Stalin have always cast too long a shadow. But what was a negative judgement on the Duce, considered innocuous and ineffective, has begun to work to his advantage. As has occurred with many other European dictators, present-day popular memory of Mussolini is increasingly indulgent; in Italy and elsewhere he is remembered as a strong, decisive leader and people now speak of the 'many good things' done by the regime. After all, it is said, Mussolini was not like 'the others'. Mussolini in Myth and Memory argues against this rehabilitation, documenting the inefficiencies, corruption, and violence of a highly repressive regime and exploding the myths of Fascist good government. But this short study does not limit itself to setting the record straight; it seeks also to answer the question of why there is nostalgia - not only in Italy - for dictatorial rule. Linking past history and present memory, Corner's
analysis constructs a picture of the realities of the Italian regime and examines the more general problem of why, in a moment of evident crisis of western democracy, people look for strong leadership and take refuge in the memory of past dictatorships. If, in this book, Fascism is placed in its totalitarian context and Mussolini emerges firmly in the company of his fellow dictators, the study also shows how a memory of the past, formed through reliance on illusion and myth, can affect the politics of the present.
Mussolini has rarely been taken seriously as a totalitarian dictator; Hitler and Stalin have always cast too long a shadow. But what was a negative judgement on the Duce, considered innocuous and ineffective, has begun to work to his advantage. As has occurred with many other European dictators, present-day popular memory of Mussolini is increasingly indulgent; in Italy and elsewhere he is remembered as a strong, decisive leader and people now speak of the 'many good things' done by the regime. After all, it is said, Mussolini was not like 'the others'. Mussolini in Myth and Memory argues against this rehabilitation, documenting the inefficiencies, corruption, and violence of a highly repressive regime and exploding the myths of Fascist good government. But this short study does not limit itself to setting the record straight; it seeks also to answer the question of why there is nostalgia - not only in Italy - for dictatorial rule. Linking past history and present memory, Corner's
analysis constructs a picture of the realities of the Italian regime and examines the more general problem of why, in a moment of evident crisis of western democracy, people look for strong leadership and take refuge in the memory of past dictatorships. If, in this book, Fascism is placed in its totalitarian context and Mussolini emerges firmly in the company of his fellow dictators, the study also shows how a memory of the past, formed through reliance on illusion and myth, can affect the politics of the present.
179 pages, Hardcover
Published December 22, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 24, 2025
A fine very interesting examination about why Mussolini is undergoing a resurgence in popularity in Italy. While Professor Corner places this 'resurgence' within the context of right wing revival in Europe and the USA it is most useful as a hard headed, but succinct, demolition of the myths that surround Mussolini and Italy's Fascist history. He covers a lot of ground touching on everything from the creation of the 'myth' of Italians as victims of Fascism rather then active Fascist themselves (rather like the way Austria and Austrians became the first 'victims' of Nazism rather then its first enthusiastic supporters) and how the lack of an Italian Nuremberg allowed so many enthusiastic Italian Fascists to continue in politics, business, etc. after the war and on through the post war Italian economic miracle and thus contributed to forming the politics of Silvio Berlusconi.
This is not a book for the neophyte, you need to know something about the history of Mussolini and Fascist Italy because, but I can't imagine anyone, without an established interest, picking it up. Although Prof. Corner does not place his examination of the rehabilitation of Mussolini or the Italian failure to face up to the legacy of those years within a broader context but anyone who has read about the way, in the immediate aftermath of WWII, history was used to help rebuild nations will easily make the connection. It took a long time for the obscenities of what happened at places like Vélodrome d'Hiver or Drancy Internment camp in France to be remembered let alone commemorated. Italy's failure to recognise or deal with its past is not unique, it is just longer lived.
Professor Corner's book is an excellent summary of the failings of Mussolini and his regime but for English only readers I would recommend that the following books are worth reading:
'The Italian Executioners: The Genocide of the Jews of Italy' by Simon Levis Sullam (2020) which is essential reading for anyone who believes that antisemitism was something 'alien' to Italy and Italians. Then two books by Ian Campbell on events surrounding and during Italy's ignoble conquest and administration of its 'empire' in Abyssinia (Ethiopia and Somalia), 'Holy War: The Untold Story of Catholic Italy's Crusade Against the Ethiopian Orthodox Church' and 'The Addis Ababa Massacre: Italy's National Shame'. The war in Abyssinia is important because it is in many ways the foundation of the antisemitism to come.
Overall Prof. Corner's book is essential reading to anyone with an interest in 20th century history and its ramifications.
This is not a book for the neophyte, you need to know something about the history of Mussolini and Fascist Italy because, but I can't imagine anyone, without an established interest, picking it up. Although Prof. Corner does not place his examination of the rehabilitation of Mussolini or the Italian failure to face up to the legacy of those years within a broader context but anyone who has read about the way, in the immediate aftermath of WWII, history was used to help rebuild nations will easily make the connection. It took a long time for the obscenities of what happened at places like Vélodrome d'Hiver or Drancy Internment camp in France to be remembered let alone commemorated. Italy's failure to recognise or deal with its past is not unique, it is just longer lived.
Professor Corner's book is an excellent summary of the failings of Mussolini and his regime but for English only readers I would recommend that the following books are worth reading:
'The Italian Executioners: The Genocide of the Jews of Italy' by Simon Levis Sullam (2020) which is essential reading for anyone who believes that antisemitism was something 'alien' to Italy and Italians. Then two books by Ian Campbell on events surrounding and during Italy's ignoble conquest and administration of its 'empire' in Abyssinia (Ethiopia and Somalia), 'Holy War: The Untold Story of Catholic Italy's Crusade Against the Ethiopian Orthodox Church' and 'The Addis Ababa Massacre: Italy's National Shame'. The war in Abyssinia is important because it is in many ways the foundation of the antisemitism to come.
Overall Prof. Corner's book is essential reading to anyone with an interest in 20th century history and its ramifications.
May 8, 2023
The book covers an important topic and has an excellent thesis. But it is poorly edited. Although the book is quite short, it is highly repetitive. The author is heavy on repeating conclusions and light on providing evidence. When the author does get to the examples supporting his thesis, he often assumes the reader has a background and knowledge of the historical examples he cites, such as specific battles in the war with Ethiopia, the nature of the negotiations at Versailles, or what happened when Italians encountered Greek forces. Instead of repeating conclusions dozens of times, how about a couple sentences describing the events that support your conclusions? A good editor would have made this book much shorter. But then it would probably just be an article for a magazine.
February 2, 2023
“Nostalgia for past authoritarian regimes may contribute to paving the way for a new authoritarianism.” In this magnificent book – Mussolini – In Myth and memory – Paul Corner dissects our all-too fallible recollections of the past. Do we only remember what we want to remember? What we’re able to remember? Does memory intentionally warp reality?
These are my questions, and I’m also asking myself. I hold no nostalgic warm feelings for fascist Italy however I do understand the cult of revisionist history – not necessarily in Italy but in many other places.
Part of the myth about Mussolini included that he wasn’t that bad, because he wasn’t Hitler, and the more famous one – the trains ran on time when he was in power. Corner examines Italy up to, during and just after the Fascist period, and goes into considerable detail explaining why one must consider the entire Fascist package rather than cherry pick.
Living in the land of dictators is not new to me and I am very familiar with revisionist history. While living in the Central African Republic of both Ange-Felix Patassé as well as Francois Bozizé, I was surrounded by locals pining for the days of Jean-Bedel Bokassa, when “things were built.” In the Democratic Republic of Congo, there is a certain nostalgia for the days of Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko, while in the republics of the former Yugoslavia, many, especially Serbs, pine for the days of Josep Broz, who “held things together.”
In South Africa, where I live, it is not uncommon to find whites (and even some blacks) who will tell you to your face that “things were better under apartheid.”
In order to understand the bigger picture, governments/dictators need to be examined as a whole rather than focusing on some of their parts.
The ruling party in South Africa, the African National Congress, is attempting to take propaganda to levels of the absurd by claiming, especially through social media, that it has the means, the know-how, and the desire, to make South Africa the country it promised to create when it came to power in 1994. Almost 30 years later, through massive corruption and incompetence, the ANC has laid waste to much of what it has touched. At the same time it is attempting to sell its own positive myth while, understandably, dining out on the recent memory of a white racist government.
Is a certain amount of reconciliation with the past necessary, especially when the past is recent? Almost certainly yes. But we should not forget.
No matter what we say or do, history repeats itself.
These are my questions, and I’m also asking myself. I hold no nostalgic warm feelings for fascist Italy however I do understand the cult of revisionist history – not necessarily in Italy but in many other places.
Part of the myth about Mussolini included that he wasn’t that bad, because he wasn’t Hitler, and the more famous one – the trains ran on time when he was in power. Corner examines Italy up to, during and just after the Fascist period, and goes into considerable detail explaining why one must consider the entire Fascist package rather than cherry pick.
Living in the land of dictators is not new to me and I am very familiar with revisionist history. While living in the Central African Republic of both Ange-Felix Patassé as well as Francois Bozizé, I was surrounded by locals pining for the days of Jean-Bedel Bokassa, when “things were built.” In the Democratic Republic of Congo, there is a certain nostalgia for the days of Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko, while in the republics of the former Yugoslavia, many, especially Serbs, pine for the days of Josep Broz, who “held things together.”
In South Africa, where I live, it is not uncommon to find whites (and even some blacks) who will tell you to your face that “things were better under apartheid.”
In order to understand the bigger picture, governments/dictators need to be examined as a whole rather than focusing on some of their parts.
The ruling party in South Africa, the African National Congress, is attempting to take propaganda to levels of the absurd by claiming, especially through social media, that it has the means, the know-how, and the desire, to make South Africa the country it promised to create when it came to power in 1994. Almost 30 years later, through massive corruption and incompetence, the ANC has laid waste to much of what it has touched. At the same time it is attempting to sell its own positive myth while, understandably, dining out on the recent memory of a white racist government.
Is a certain amount of reconciliation with the past necessary, especially when the past is recent? Almost certainly yes. But we should not forget.
No matter what we say or do, history repeats itself.
October 2, 2022
I read this while in Italy during the recent election. How could Italian extreme right wing politics come to pay lip service to Mussolini and Fascism, given how the first20 year trial worked out. The argument is reasonable - with the passage of time and the circumstances of the end of WW2, fascism and Mussolini were somewhat let off the hook and memory became detached from the historical realities - a very bad idea. This book is filled with implications for US politics too. This is a short but very effective read.
December 12, 2022
Well I just got it, not read yet. Recommended by The Economist. A must when living as a foreigner in Italy. It remains a sensitive issue indeed, where locals find it difficult to really engage on the topic of fascism let alone Benito!
April 7, 2023
Nothing really new, just different ways of explaining Mussolini and how some view him.
May 23, 2023
14/20
January 24, 2023
Review i wrote for the Review of Democracy https://revdem.ceu.edu/2023/01/19/dic...
Engaging with the difficult task of deconstructing firmly rooted myths, Corner’s main goal is to answer two questions: (1) How far does the affirmation of “many good things” done by Fascism corresponds to the historical reality?; and (2) Why do so many people today share a “permissive memory” of Fascism? Here it has to be stressed that Corner’s choice of myths-and-facts approach allows to answer him only the first question — which he does in a very persuasive way. Let us look at the misperceptions of the Fascist regime that the author deconstructs in more detail before we would move on to the second question.
It is a praiseworthy endeavor to debunk repeatedly stated assessments that are simply contrary to the historical evidence. It is enough to mention that even former European Parliament’s President Antonio Tajani, quoted in the book, once remarked unashamedly in an interview that “Mussolini also did many good things”. If the elites representing “noble” European institutions share such views in good faith, why should one then expect a different approach from the common people?
In her recently published book “Dandelions”, author and TLS editor Thea Lenarduzzi describes how she had a hard time listening to her grandma’s stories in which she tends to repeat social clichés about Fascism. Lenarduzzi even places in a visible location in the house a book similar to Corner’s — “Mussolini ha fatto anche cose buone. Le idiozie che continuano a circolare sul fascismo” [Mussolini did also good things. The still circulating stupidities about Fascism] by Francesco Filippi— just to observe that it remains forever untouched. However, Lenarduzzi never dares to explicitly confront Nonna about her mistaken convictions in anticipation of condescending behaviour of an otherwise lovely and charming grandma. This is just an example of how wide spread are the erroneous convictions about the benevolent character of Fascism (including those who experienced it on their skin!), and how difficult it would be to eradicate those beliefs (or even confront them) in the sphere of popular opinion and small talk.
Engaging with the difficult task of deconstructing firmly rooted myths, Corner’s main goal is to answer two questions: (1) How far does the affirmation of “many good things” done by Fascism corresponds to the historical reality?; and (2) Why do so many people today share a “permissive memory” of Fascism? Here it has to be stressed that Corner’s choice of myths-and-facts approach allows to answer him only the first question — which he does in a very persuasive way. Let us look at the misperceptions of the Fascist regime that the author deconstructs in more detail before we would move on to the second question.
It is a praiseworthy endeavor to debunk repeatedly stated assessments that are simply contrary to the historical evidence. It is enough to mention that even former European Parliament’s President Antonio Tajani, quoted in the book, once remarked unashamedly in an interview that “Mussolini also did many good things”. If the elites representing “noble” European institutions share such views in good faith, why should one then expect a different approach from the common people?
In her recently published book “Dandelions”, author and TLS editor Thea Lenarduzzi describes how she had a hard time listening to her grandma’s stories in which she tends to repeat social clichés about Fascism. Lenarduzzi even places in a visible location in the house a book similar to Corner’s — “Mussolini ha fatto anche cose buone. Le idiozie che continuano a circolare sul fascismo” [Mussolini did also good things. The still circulating stupidities about Fascism] by Francesco Filippi— just to observe that it remains forever untouched. However, Lenarduzzi never dares to explicitly confront Nonna about her mistaken convictions in anticipation of condescending behaviour of an otherwise lovely and charming grandma. This is just an example of how wide spread are the erroneous convictions about the benevolent character of Fascism (including those who experienced it on their skin!), and how difficult it would be to eradicate those beliefs (or even confront them) in the sphere of popular opinion and small talk.
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