Mussolini, in the thousand guises he projected and the press picked up, fascinated Americans in the 1920s and the early '30s. John Diggins' analysis of America's reaction to an ideological phenomenon abroad reveals, he proposes, the darker side of American political values and assumptions. Originally published in 1972. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
In 1922 the Fascist 'March on Rome' brought Benito Mussolini to power. He promised Italians that his fascist revolution would unite them as never before and make Italy a strong and respected nation internationally. In the next two decades, Mussolini set about rebuilding the city of Rome as the site and symbol of the new fascist Italy. Through an ambitious program of demolition and construction he sought to make Rome a modern capital of a nation and an empire worthy of Rome's imperial past. Building the new Rome put people to work, 'liberated' ancient monuments, cleared slums, produced new "cities" for education, sports, and cinema, produced wide new streets, and provided the regime with a setting to showcase fascism's dynamism, power, and greatness. Mussolini's Rome thus embodied the movement, the man and the myth that made up fascist Italy.
Ordinary Violence in Mussolini's Italy reveals the centrality of violence to Fascist rule, arguing that the Mussolini regime projected its coercive power deeply and diffusely into society through confinement, imprisonment, low-level physical assaults, economic deprivations, intimidation, discrimination, and other everyday forms of coercion. Fascist repression was thus more intense and ideological than previously thought and even shared some important similarities with Nazi and Soviet terror.
A historical look at the American fascination with Italian fascism during the interwar period In the interwar years, the United States grappled with economic volatility, and Americans expressed anxieties about a decline in moral values, the erosion of families and communities, and the decay of democracy. These issues prompted a profound ambivalence toward modernity, leading some individuals to turn to Italian fascism as a possible solution for the problems facing the country. The Machine Has a Soul delves into why Americans of all stripes sympathized with Italian fascism, and shows that fascism’s appeal rested in the image of Mussolini’s regime as “the machine which will run and has a soul”—a seemingly efficient and technologically advanced system that upheld tradition, religion, and family. Katy Hull focuses on four prominent American sympathizers: Richard Washburn Child, a conservative diplomat and Republican operative; Anne O’Hare McCormick, a distinguished New York Times journalist; Generoso Pope, an Italian-American publisher and Democratic political broker; and Herbert Wallace Schneider, a Columbia University professor of moral philosophy. In fascism’s violent squads they saw youthful glamour and impeccable manners, in the megalomaniacal Mussolini they perceived someone both current and old-fashioned, and in the corporate state they witnessed a politics that could revive addled minds. They argued that with the right course of action, the United States could use fascism to take the best from modernity while withstanding its harmful effects. Investigating the motivations of American fascist sympathizers, The Machine Has a Soul offers provocative lessons about authoritarianism’s appeal during times of intense cultural, social, and economic strain.
Radicalism had a powerful but largely unacknowledged influence in the Italian-American community. This study brings together 16 selections that restore to Italian-American history the radical experience that has long remained suppressed, but that nevertheless helped shape both the Italian-American community and the American left. The detailed introduction by the volume editors interprets the overall history of Italian-American radicalism and offers extensive bibliographical references on the topic, which the volume editors organize into three sections: labor, politics, and culture. A concluding selection relates the radicalism of Italian Americans to that in other Italian immigrant communities. In the section on labor, Rudolph Vecoli, among others, traces the rise and decline of radicalism within the Italian-American working class, and Jennifer Guglielmo breaks new ground in uncovering the involvement of Italian American women in the radical movements. In politics, Paul Avrich unveils the violent reaction of anarchists in the United States to the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, and Jackie DiSalvo identifies Father James Groppi as the most important white leader in the Civil Rights movement. On culture, Julia Lisella, Mary Jo Bono, and Edvige Guinta present pioneering interpretive studies on the work of Italian-American women in literature.
A primer on the history of American fascism Most people in the United States have been trained to recognize fascism in movements such as Germany’s Third Reich or Italy’s National Fascist Party, where charismatic demagogues manipulate incensed, vengeful masses. We rarely think of fascism as linked to the essence of monopoly-finance capitalism, operating under the guise of American free-enterprise. But, as Michael Joseph Roberto argues, this is exactly where fascism’s embryonic forms began gestating in the United States, during the so-called prosperous 1920s and the Great Depression of the following decade. Drawing from a range of authors who wrote during the 1930s and early 1940s, Roberto examines how the driving force of American fascism comes, not from reactionary movements below, but from the top, namely, Big Business and the power of finance capital. More subtle than its earlier European counterparts, writes Roberto, fascist America’s racist, top-down quashing of individual liberties masqueraded as “real democracy,” “upholding the Constitution,” and the pressure to be “100 Percent American.” The Coming of the American Behemoth is intended as a primer, to forge much-needed discourse on the nature of fascism, and its particular forms within the United States. The book focuses on the role of the capital-labor relationship during the period between the two World Wars, when the United States became the epicenter of the world-capitalist system. Concentrating on specific processes, which he characterizes as terrorist and non-terrorist alike, Roberto argues that the interwar period was a fertile time for the incubation of a protean, more salable form of tyranny – a fascist behemoth in the making, whose emergence has been ignored or dismissed by mainstream historians. This book is a necessity for anyone who fears America tipping ever closer, in this era of Trump, to full-blown fascism.
“This immigration story is universal.” —School Library Journal, Starred Dan Yaccarino’s great-grandfather arrived at Ellis Island with a small shovel and his parents’ good advice: “Work hard, but remember to enjoy life, and never forget your family.” With simple text and warm, colorful illustrations, Yaccarino recounts how the little shovel was passed down through four generations of this Italian-American family—along with the good advice. It’s a story that will have kids asking their parents and grandparents: Where did we come from? How did our family make the journey all the way to America? “A shovel is just a shovel, but in Dan Yaccarino’s hands it becomes a way to dig deep into the past and honor all those who helped make us who we are.” —Eric Rohmann, winner of the Caldecott Medal for My Friend Rabbit “All the Way to America is a charmer. Yaccarino’s heartwarming story rings clearly with truth, good cheer, and love.” —Tomie dePaola, winner of a Caldecott Honor Award for Strega Nona
From one of America's most beloved chefs and authors, a road trip into the heart of Italian American cooking today—from Chicago deep-dish pizza to the Bronx's eggplant parm—celebrating the communities that redefined what we know as Italian food. As she explores this utterly delectable and distinctive cuisine, Lidia shows us that every kitchen is different, every Italian community distinct, and little clues are buried in each dish: the Sicilian-style semolina bread and briny olives in New Orleans Muffuletta Sandwiches, the Neapolitan crust of New York pizza, and mushrooms (abundant in the United States, but scarce in Italy) stuffed with breadcrumbs, just as peppers or tomatoes are. Lidia shows us how this cuisine is an original American creation and gives recognition where it is long overdue to the many industrious Italians across the country who have honored the traditions of their homeland in a delicious new style. And of course, there are Lidia’s irresistible recipes, including · Baltimore Crab Cakes · Pittsburgh’s Primanti’s Sandwiches · Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza · Eggplant Parmigiana from the Bronx · Gloucester Baked Halibut · Chicken Trombino from Philadelphia · authentic Italian American Meatloaf, and Spaghetti and Meatballs · Prickly Pear Granita from California · and, of course, a handful of cheesecakes and cookies that you’d recognize in any classic Italian bakery This is a loving exploration of a fascinating cuisine—as only Lidia could give us.
