Mussolini's Rome : rebuilding the Eternal City / Borden W. Painter, Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Painter, Borden W.

Contributor:

Sonja Dümpelmann Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Italian and Italian American studies (Palgrave Macmillan (Firm))

Italian and Italian American studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fascism and culture.

City planning.

History.

Rome (Italy)--History--1870-1945.

Rome (Italy).

City planning--Italy--Rome--History--20th century.

Fascism and culture--Italy--Rome.

Mussolini, Benito, 1883-1945.

Mussolini, Benito.

Italy--Rome.

Penn Provenance:

Duempelmann, Sonja (donor) (Libra copy)

Physical Description:

xix, 200 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Summary:

Rome was Mussolini's Obsession. He staged the symbolic March on Rome in 1922, and promised Italians that his Fascist revolution would unite the country and transform Italy into a major world power. Over the next two decades, he set about rebuilding Rome as the foremost site and symbol of the new Fascist order. Through an ambitious program of demolition and construction, he sought to make Rome a capital that embraced modernity while preserving and glorifying the city's ancient past. Building the new Rome put people to work; "liberated" ancient monuments from cluttered surroundings; cleared slums; created giant complexes for education, sports, and cinema; produced wide new boulevards and piazzas; and provided the Fascist regime with a platform on which to showcase the power and identity of Fascism. In no other Italian city is the Fascist ideal as clearly visible.

Though postwar Italy identified itself as "antifascist" and set about erasing the memory of Fascism and its leader, Mussolini, his imprint upon the Eternal City proved to be ineradicable. So it remains that throughout Rome, Fascist structures of all kinds create the backdrop for many of Rome's most beloved monuments-from the Colosseum to Saint Peter's-and affect the way we experience the city today.

In Mussolini's Rome, Borden W. Painter, Jr. unveils Mussolini's tremendous and lasting impact on the city to which millions flock each year, and delivers an invaluable perspective on the history and nature of Italian Fascism. With vivid, effortless prose, Painter reveals how, for better or worse, the Rome we know today is not only the city of Roman emperors, Catholic popes, and Italian kings-it is also Mussolini's Rome.

Contents:

1 Mussolini's Obsession with Rome 1

2 Celebration and Construction, 1932-1934 21

3 Sports, Education, and the New Italians 39

4 Architecture, Propaganda, and the Fascist Revolution 59

5 Population, Neighborhoods, and Housing 91

6 Axis and Empire 115

7 War and Resistance 141

Appendix II Fascist Place and Street Names 167.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [169]-191) and index.

ISBN:

1403966044

OCLC:

56659283