Description
Book SynopsisBuilding on extensive archival research and important scholarly analysis, Galeazzo Ciano: The Fascist Pretender examines the life of Galeazzo Ciano, foreign minister of fascist Italy from 1936 to 1943 and Benito Mussolini’s son-in-law. Ciano’s life serves as a lens through which to gain a better understanding of crucial issues of Italian and European fascism, including the fascistization of society and politics, foreign relations, and the problem of succession. The biography follows an innovative thematic structure that focuses on major aspects of Ciano’s life, including his family, his political career, his diplomacy, and his desire to succeed Mussolini.
Filling a substantial gap in the existing literature on the history of fascism, this book is the first comprehensive analysis of a key player of Italian fascism other than Mussolini; it also offers a long overdue critical assessment of Ciano’s famous diary, one of the most important texts f
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Family The Son of a Hero The Ciano Family in Livorno Ciano’s Friends The Fascist Family Shaping Italian Society 2. The Politician The Minister The Fascist The Elite The Catholic and Monarchist The Fascist Oligarchy 3. The Diplomat Italy’s Role in the World Diplomacy and Performance Parallel and Secret Diplomacy Blackmail, Terror, and War Assessing Fascist Italy’s Foreign Diplomacy 4. The Successor The Deputy Duce Fascist Masculinities: Ciano versus Mussolini The Undecided One The “Good Fascist” Succession and Struggle in Fascism Epilogue: A Man of His Time Appendix Chronology Abbreviations Bibliography Index
