Benito Mussolini (Critical Lives)

Author and educator Alan Axelrod presents this biography of Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini. The text chronicles Mussolini's childhood as the son of a socialist blacksmith and schoolteacher mother, his difficult years as a young student, the political influences which formed Mussolini into a Marxist and an advocate of violent reform, his relationships with various women, his abrupt turning away from Marxism, the creation of the fascist party, and the years of leadership as the youngest prime minister in Italian history. Academic, but accessible to the general reader. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)