Author:Christopher Duggan
Fascist Voices is a fresh and disturbing look at a country in thrall to a charismatic dictator. Tracing fascism from its conception to its legacy, Christopher Duggan unpicks why the regime enjoyed so much support among the majority of the Italian people. He examines the extraordinary hold the Duce had on Italy and how he came to embody fascism.
By making use of rarely examined sources, such as letters and diaries, newspaper reports, secret police files, popular songs and radio broadcasts, Duggan explores how ordinary people experienced fascism on a daily basis; how its ideology influenced politcs, religion and everyday life to the extent that Mussolini's legacy still lingers in Italy today.
WINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE
A fascinating exploration of the letters that ‘ordinary’ Italians who supported fascism wrote to Mussolini in the 1920s and 1930s
—— Glasgow Sunday HeraldThis original, revealing and disturbing book provides a grassroots view of fascist Italy
—— IndependentDuggan’s superbly researched book uncovers the nasty reality of [Mussolini’s] regime and demonstrates that there was a disturbing symbiotic relationship between fascism and the Catholic Church
—— Mail on SundayIn his magnificent new book, a pathbreaking study that everyone interested in Fascism, or in Italy past and present, should read, Christopher Duggan fills the gap by examining a wide range of diaries… This enables Duggan to deliver not merely a detailed account of popular attitudes towards the regime, but, far more, a general history of Fascism that for the first time treats it, not as a tyranny that allowed ordinary Italians no possibility of expressing themselves freely, nor as the brutal dictatorship of a capitalist class that reduced the great majority of the country’s citizens to the status of victims, but as a regime rooted strongly in popular aspirations and desires.
—— Richard J. Evans , London Review of BooksMagnificent...a pathbreaking study that everyone interested in fascism, or in Italy past and present, should read
—— London Review of BooksExcellent new history of Italian Fascism
—— Ian Thomson , Financial TimesAn elegantly written study that is the work of a historian at the height of his powers
—— History TodayFluid and absorbing
—— Times Literary SupplementDraws on a vast range of private letters and diaries to find out what ordinary people thought about the regime that ruled them between 1922 and 1945
—— Christopher Silvester , Daily ExpressDraws on a vast range of private letters and diaries
—— Christopher Silvester , Scottish Sunday ExpressLucid, passionate, urgent
—— Rory MacLeanThis is first class history and in a year swamped with First World War centenary books, it’s the one you should read first
—— Andrew RobertsA compelling and fascinating read...a shadowy assassin brought to life by an writer who gets to grips with a century of Balkan intrigue
—— Kate AdieA marvellously absorbing book... A triumph of research, it will appeal to the layman and historian alike
—— Ian Thomson , Financial TimesExtremely well written, taut and evocative... Despite its complex subject, Butcher makes this an easy and engaging read with his breezy style and fascinating encounters
—— Misha Glenny , Daily TelegraphIlluminating... Butcher achieves something remarkable with Princip. He promotes him quite plausibly from mad man to everyman; a warning to the future whom the future foolishly forgot
—— Giles Whittell , The TimesArguably the most important story of the war
—— Michael Hodges , Mail on SundayAs a travel writer, Butcher takes some beating. He packs balls as well as ballpoints
—— John Lewis-Stempel , Sunday ExpressA triumph of storytelling... [A] highly original gem of a book
—— Victor Sebestyen , SpectatorInformative and powerful
—— John Horne , Irish TimesA page-turning exploration of how the forgotten past continues to inform the present... Important, and relevant
—— Oliver Poole , Independent on Sunday[Princip’s] story as Butcher now tells it has a resonance far beyond the Balkans
—— Iain Morris , ObserverElegant, horrifying and enlightening… A book which is not only a good piece of detective work, it is the finest contribution so far this year to the rapidly expanding literature on the Great War
—— Mark Smith , HeraldTim Butcher has produced the most imaginative and singular book on the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War to date. It is a lot more than a study of Princip… It is a piece of expeditionary journalism, an investigation in time, place and spirit, of the highest order
—— Robert Fox , ScotsmanA revealing insight into the mind and journey of the boy who escaped the narrow confines of his village, and whose political aspirations for his native country had such far-reaching effects on the world
—— Philippa Logan , Oxford TimesUtterly absorbing… If journalism is the first draft of history, Butcher marries both disciplines with boldness and originality – as well as sympathy for his shadowy subject
—— BBC History MagazineInsightful and entertaining, this blows the cobwebs off the history of that day
—— Evening Echo (Cork)Positive proof that fact can be as gripping as fiction…rich and timely… Amongst so many books published around the anniversary of the First World War, this one stands out
—— CGA MagazineA fascinating investigation… An absorbing read
—— Irish IndependentDespite its serious subject matter, the book is a rollicking read, full of amusing details and sarcastic humour
—— The EconomistA brilliant and haunting journey through the Balkans
—— Sinclair McKay , Daily TelegraphIn the centenary year of the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, what better read than Tim Butcher’s The Trigger
—— Paul Routledge , Tablet[A] fascinating and lively history
—— 4 stars , Daily TelegraphVery complex – but you will grasp it
—— William Leith , Evening StandardA fascination exploration
—— Mail on SundayHighly readable but profoundly researched, The Trigger represents a bold exception to the deluge of First World War books devoted to mud, blood and poetry
—— Ben Macintyre , The Timesa fascinating original portrait of a man and his country
—— Country and Town House