The Body of Il Duce: Mussolini's Corpse and the Fortunes of Italy

About this book

A brilliant young historian follows the odyssey of Mussolinis body in an "ingenious" exploration of the legacy of Italian Fascism (The New Yorker) Bullet-ridden spat on strung up in a Milan square: this was the fate of Il Duce as reviled in death as he was adored in life. With Italys defeat in World War II the cult of Benito Mussolinis physical self was brought to its grotesque denouement by a jeering crowd of thousands--one eerily similar to the throngs that had once roared their approval beneath his balcony. In this groundbreaking work Sergio Luzzatto traces the fortunes of Mussolinis body from his charismatic domination of Fascist parades to his humiliating execution and beyond as his corpse was buried exhumed stolen and secreted away for ten years. Through this pursuit Luzzatto demonstrates how in a totalitarian state the rulers body comes to incarnate the nation. Elegantly written and stunningly conceived The Body of Il Duce is a compelling history of a country struggling to free itself from the thrall of Fascism.