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Blood and Power
- The Rise and Fall of Italian Fascism
- Narrated by: Daniel Philpott
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
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Publisher's summary
Bloomsbury presents Blood and Power by John Foot, read by Daniel Philpott.
'Clear, cool, plainly written and devastating’ Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Times Literary Supplement
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 that preached hatred for politicians and love for the fatherland; one that promised to build a ‘New Roman Empire’, and make Italy a great power once again.
Wearing black shirts and wielding guns, knives and truncheons, the proponents of fascism embraced a climate of violence and rampant masculinity. Led by Benito Mussolini, they would systematically destroy the organisations of the left, murdering and torturing anyone who got in their way.
In Blood and Power, historian John Foot draws on decades of research to chart the turbulent years between 1915 and 1945, and beyond. Drawing widely from accounts of people across the political spectrum – 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.
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On May 4, 1886, a bomb exploded at a Chicago labor rally, wounding dozens of policemen, seven of whom eventually died. A wave of mass hysteria swept the country, leading to a sensational trial that culminated in four controversial executions and dealt a blow to the labor movement from which it would take decades to recover. Historian James Green recounts the rise of the first great labor movement in the wake of the Civil War and brings to life an epic 20-year struggle for the eight-hour workday.
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A must for anyone who enjoys labor history
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The window between two equally stifling autocracies - the imperial family and the communists - was open only briefly, in the last couple of years of the 19th century until the end of WWI, by which time the revolution was in full fury. From the last years of Tolstoy until the death of the Tsar and his family, however, Russia experimented with liberalism and cultural openness. Novelists and playwrights blossomed and political ideas were swapped in coffee houses.
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An excellent look at an interesting history.
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The Irish Revolution has long been mythologized in American culture but seldom understood. For too long the story of Irish independence and its aftermath has been told only within an Anglo-Irish context. Now, in the critically acclaimed Bitter Freedom, journalist Maurice Walsh, with "a novelist's eye for the illuminating detail of everyday lives in extremis" ( Prospect), places revolutionary Ireland in the panorama of the global disorder born of the terrible slaughter of World War I and provides a kaleidoscopic portrait of the human face of the conflict.
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Worthwhile listen
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A haunting look at Romanian history
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The Kremlin intrigues, the private worlds of the Soviet Empire's ruling class, Radzinsky thrillingly brings them to life. And the riddle of that most cold-blooded of leaders, a man for whom nothing was sacred in his pursuit of absolute might, and perhaps the greatest mass murderer in Western history, is solved.
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1924
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In The People's Republic of Amnesia, NPR correspondent Louisa Lim charts how the events of June 4 changed China, and how China changed the events of June 4 by rewriting its own history. Lim reveals new details about those fateful days, including how one of the country's most senior politicians lost a family member to an army bullet, as well as the inside story of the young soldiers sent to clear Tiananmen Square.
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great book and recording
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What listeners say about Blood and Power
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- John
- 07-31-22
Good Answers but Generates More Questions
I picked this up wanting to know more about the rise of fascism in Italy. The early disclaimers warned me I might not be getting bits in this book I'd be interested in, and be warned it pointedly avoids details of the 2nd Italo-Ethiopian War and the 2nd World War. With that said, it does go in on how the fluid boil of Italian politics pre-and post WW1 set the stage for Italian Fascism. The fascinating part is to see how quickly and easily many socialist radicals (including Mussolini himself) rapidly changed sides and became even ardent fascists. The two 'red years' followed by the two 'black years' is quite a ride indeed with many informative stories. Foot is blunt about the role violence and murder played in the rise of the fascists and their seizure of power in 1921. The fact they were aided by sympathetic actors within the Italian state (including the 'soldier king',Victor Emmanuel) helps explain things, but the rapidity of a country that elected socialists to power only to see fascists seize it in the streets a scant 2 years later is still astonishing. The fact that it happened because basically 20% of the electorate were utterly unwilling to accept the results of that election and openly engaged in violence and terrorism to overturn them is chilling indeed. Chilling still more so as it succeeded with the inaction of those who might have stopped it. Dispelled too are the myths of 'the good Italians' in the war, and the fact that Mussolini on!y enacted his racial laws under duress.
The frustrating part is that while we get a lot of details on theater bombings, failed assassins who tried for Il Duce, and the March on Rome, I find other key questions and issues unexplored. Like why did Mussolini lead it (from afar of course) and not Italo Balbo? Or Gabriele D'Annunzio? Both get time and space in the book but I'm not at all clear on why Mussolini became the leader of the movement (maybe because he had the newspaper?). Similarly, it seems an all too quick slide from the fascist racial laws in 1938 to suddenly its 1943 and the Fascist Grand Council is voting Mussolini out of power. 'Blood and Power's pace is a bit uneven, as is sometimes the scope.
Copious detail is given to Mussolini's execution, and to the aftermath. But that begins to make sense as Foot points out just how little reckoning Italy did with its fascist past for so long. As in many other places, it was easier to bury the past and rewrite (or entirely omit) history than undergo the painful cleansing and see justice done.
I did enjoy the book and it answered many questions, but I'm looking for other materials to fill in the gaps.
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- Kindle Customer
- 07-02-22
Entertaining but superficial
I have no objection to history written for popular consumption, but this is really watered down. Lots of anecdotes, virtually no analysis. I am surprised that a reputable publisher put it out.
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