A Primer of Italian Fascism

A Primer of Italian Fascism makes available for the first time in English translation the key documents pertaining to one of our century's defining mass political movements. Whereas existing anthologies survey Fascist writings in a multiplicity of national settings, A Primer of Italian Fascism opts for a tightly focused, in-depth approach that emphasizes the development of Fascist ideology in the country of its birth. Historically speaking, Italian Fascism was the original Fascism. The model for subsequent movements including Nazism, Falangism, and Integralism, Italian Fascism set out to define a "third way" to modernization known as "corporatism." A Primer of Italian Fascism situates the rise and fall of corporatist ideals within the framework of the actual history of Mussolini's movement and regime. It includes not only classic doctrinal statements such as Mussolini's "Foundations and Doctrine of Fascism" and writings by corporatist theorists such as Bottai, Pellizzi, Rocco, and Spirito, but also an array of fundamental political and juridical documents, including the party platforms adopted by the Fascist combat brigades, the 1938 Manifesto of Race, the 1940 Manifesto of Verona, and the Fascist labor and school charters. By making available such an extensive array of source texts, A Primer of Italian Fascism aims to open up for the English reader a more complex and complete vision of Fascism, both in Italy and beyond.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction: The Fascist century A chronology of Fascism PART 1: Foundations Platform of the Fasci di Combattimento (1919) Postulates of the Fascist Program (1920) Program of the National Fascist Party (1921) Excerpt from "History of the Fascist Movement" (1932) Gioacchino Volpe Foundations and doctrine of Fascism (1932) Benito Mussolini (in collaboration with Giovanni Gentile) PART 2: Core and periphery Fascism as intellectual revolution (1924) Giuseppe Bottai The two faces of Fascism (1924) Sergio Panunzio Fascism's problems and reality (1924) Camillo Pellizzi The political doctrine of Fascism (1925) Alfredo Rocco Fascism, nationalism and reactions (1931) and Fascism, revolution and European nonreaction (1931) Delio Cantimori Corporativism as absolute liberalism and absolute socialism (1932) Ugo Spirito Address to the National Corporative Council (14 November 1933) and Senate speech on the Bill Establishing the Corporations (abridged; 13 January 1934) Benito Mussolini The documents on race: The Manifesto of Race (1938), Critique of The Manifesto of Race (1941-42) and the New Revised Draft of The Manifesto of Race (1942) Twenty years of Critica Fascista (1943) Giuseppe Bottai The Manifesto of Verona 1943 PART 3: Fascism and culture Nine selections from the debate on Fascism and culture: Critica Fascista (1926-27) Art and Fascism (1928) Marherita G. Sarfatti Excerpt from The ideal of culture and Italy today (1936) Giovanni Gentile Two excerpts from Futurism and Fascism: The Florence address (1919) and The Italian empire (1932) Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Four excerpts from Pagan imperialism: Fascism before the Euro-Christian peril (1928) Julius Evolva PART 4: Documents Manifecto of Fascist Intellectuals (1925) A reply to the Manifecto of Fascist Intellectuals (1925) Benedetto Croce The Labor Charter (1927) Excerpts from the School Charter: The twenty-none Declarations: Principles, goals and methods of Fascist schools (19839) Bibliography in English; Index

About the Author :
Jeffrey T. Schnapp is Rosina Pierotti Chair of Italian Literature at Stanford University and the author of several books, including Staging Fascism: 18 BL and the Theater for Masses.

Review :
"Read in conjunction with [Italian Fascism/A Primer of Italian Fascism] these two books fulfil a double role. First they provide a balanced survey of the nature and doctrines of Fascism. Yet just as important is the light they throw upon Italian institutions and the working of the Italian mind. Alexander De Grand, who is Professor of History at North Carolina State University, disagrees with some other contemporary scholars in that he sees Fascism as a bourgeois response to the challenge of proletarian revolution. The issues are involved. The material needed to unravel them is provided by "A Primer of Italian Fascism". It makes available, in many cases for the first time in English translation, the key documents on Fascism."--Rivista, Summer 2000 "A Primer of Italian Fascism makes available key contemporary documents, dealing with issues from fascist doctrine to Italian fascism and culture, including the futurist movement, with Mussolini's treatise of corporatism the centrepiece of the movement. These documents also expose fascist plans for a united European empire to mercilessly exploit the third world."--Morning Star, 3 July, 2000