Alexander De Grand, a professor of history at North Carolina State University, is the author of The Italian Left in the Twentieth Century: A History of the Socialist and Communist Parties.

• CONTENTS: Preface to the Third Edition Preface Part One The Historical Background, 1870-1922 Chapter One: The Origins of Fascism, 1870-1918 Chapter Two: The Postwar Crisis and the Development of Fascism, 1918-22 Part Two The Fascist Regime in Ascendancy, 1922-35 Chapter Three: Between Movement and Regime, 1922-25 Chapter Four: The Creation of the Regime, 1922-25 Chapter Five: The Fascist Regime and the Great Depression, 1929-34 Chapter Six: Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922-35 Part Three The Downward Spiral, 1935-45 Chapter Seven: Fascism at War: Economy and Society, 1935-43 Chapter Eight: The Reorientation of Foreign Policy, 1936-43 Chapter Nine: The Italian Social Republic, 1943-45 Chapter Ten: The Political Culture of Fascism: Ideologies and Intellectuals Chapter Eleven: Conclusion Bibliographic Essay Index

"[De Grand] must be congratulated on performing so skillfully the difficult task of providing students (and teachers) of twentieth-century history with a concise yet rounded account of Italian Fascism."—History "This history . . . commends itself for its clarity, compactness, and grasp of the subject."—American Historical Review "An excellent synthesis and a balanced interpretation of the historical background and the evolution of the Italian political system under fascism."—Choice