Here, for the first time in one volume, are two rare
autobiographical works by Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), founder of
Fascism and Italian dictator for twenty-one years. The first volume
(published in English in 1928 as My Autobiography)
describes Mussolini''s youth, years as an agitator and journalist,
experiences in World War I, the formation and revolutionary
struggles of the Fascist Party, the March on Rome, and his early
years in power. The second volume (published in English in 1948 as
The Fall of Mussolini) was written during the brief period
between his rescue by the Germans in September 1943 and his
execution by Italian partisans in April 1945. Here the Duce
recounts his last year in power and the coup d''état that deposed
him. My Rise and Fall allows readers to view the dictator
from two unique vantage points: Il Duce, eyes on the horizon, chin
thrust forward, as he nears his political zenith; and Mussolini at
his nadir, a desperate, powerless, sawdust Caesar, soon to be shot
and hanged, head down, for all to scorn.