"In the last years the discussion around what is fascism, if this concept can be applied to present forms of politics and if its seeds are still present today, became central in the political debate. This discussion led to a vast reconsideration of the meaning and the experience of fascism in Europe and is changing the ways in which scholars of different generations look at this political ideology and come back to it and it is also changing the ways in which we consider the experience of Italian fascism in the European and global context. The aim of the book is building a general history of Fascism and its historiography through the analysis of thirteen different fundamental aspects, which were at the core of Fascist project or of Fascist practices during the regime. Each essay considers a specific and meaningful aspect of the history of Italian fascism, reflecting on it from the vantage point of a case study. The essays thus re-interrogates the history of Fascism, in order to understand in which way Fascism was able to mold the historical context in which it was born, how and if it transformed political, cultural, social elements that were already present in Italy. The themes considered are violence, empire, war, politics, economy, religion, culture, but also antifascism and the impact of Fascism abroad, especially in the Twenties and at the beginnings of the Thirties. The book could be both used for a general public interested in the history of Europe in the interwar period and for an academic and scholarly public, since the essays aim to develop a provocative reflection on their own area of research"--

Bringing together leading scholars from a range of nations, Rethinking Antifascism provides a fascinating exploration of one of the most vibrant sub-disciplines within recent historiography. Through case studies that exemplify the field’s breadth and sophistication, it examines antifascism in two distinct realms: after surveying the movement’s remarkable diversity across nations and political cultures up to 1945, the volume assesses its postwar political and ideological salience, from its incorporation into Soviet state doctrine to its radical questioning by historians and politicians. Avoiding both heroic narratives and reflexive revisionism, these contributions offer nuanced perspectives on a movement that helped to shape the postwar world.

During the early decades of the twentieth century, Italy produced distinctive innovations in both the intellectual and political realms. On the one hand, Benedetto Croce (1866-1952) and Giovanni Gentile (1875-1944) spearheaded a radical rethinking of historicism and philosophical idealism that significantly reoriented Italian culture. On the other hand, the period witnessed the first rumblings of fascism. Assuming opposite sides, Gentile became the semi-official philosopher of fascism while Croce argued for a renewed liberalism based on 'absolute' historicism. In Historicism and Fascism in Modern Italy, David D. Roberts uses the ideological conflict between Croce and Gentile as a basis for a wider discussion of the interplay between politics and ideas in Italy during the early-twentieth century. Roberts examines the connection between fascism and the modern Italian intellectual tradition, arguing that the relationship not only deepens our understanding of fascism and liberalism but also illuminates ongoing dangers and possibilities in the wider Western world. This set of twelve essays by one of the leading scholars in the field represents an authoritative view of the modern Italian intellectual tradition, its relationship with fascism, and its enduring implications for history, politics, and culture in Italy and beyond.

From the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 through to the waning months of the World War II in 1945, Fascist Italy was at war. This Fascist decade of war comprised an uninterrupted stretch of military and political engagements in which Italian military forces were involved in Abyssinia, Spain, Albania, France, Greece, the Soviet Union, North Africa and the Middle East. As a junior partner to Nazi Germany, only entering the war in June 1940, Italy is often seen as a relatively minor player in World War II. However, this book challenges much of the existing scholarship by arguing that Fascist Italy played a significant and distinct role in shaping international relations between 1935 and 1945, creating a Fascist decade of war.

In the last years, the discussion around what is fascism, if this concept can be applied to present forms of politics and if its seeds are still present today, became central in the political debate. This discussion led to a vast reconsideration of the meaning and the experience of fascism in Europe and is changing the ways in which scholars of different generations look at this political ideology and come back to it and it is also changing the ways in which we consider the experience of Italian fascism in the European and global context. The aim of the book is building a general history of Fascism and its historiography through the analysis of 13 different fundamental aspects, which were at the core of Fascist project or of Fascist practices during the regime. Each essay considers a specific and meaningful aspect of the history of Italian fascism, reflecting on it from the vantage point of a case study. The essays thus reinterrogates the history of Fascism to understand in which way Fascism was able to mould the historical context in which it was born, how and if it transformed political, cultural, social elements that were already present in Italy. The themes considered are violence, empire, war, politics, economy, religion, culture, but also antifascism and the impact of Fascism abroad, especially in the Twenties and at the beginnings of the Thirties. The book could be both used for a general public interested in the history of Europe in the interwar period and for an academic and scholarly public, since the essays aim to develop a provocative reflection on their own area of research.