Ian Thomson

From ‘divine Caesar’ to Hitler’s lapdog – the rise and fall of Benito Mussolini

Il Duce was always the weaker partner in Nazi-Fascist Pact of Steel, and as the war progressed became increasingly reliant on Germany

Hitler and Mussolini in Berlin in 1941. Credit: Getty Images
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  • Mussolini’s War: Fascist Italy from Triumph to Collapse, 1935-1943

    John Gooch

    Penguin, pp. 532, £30

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