Mussolini : A Study in Power
New York: Hawthorne Books, Inc., 1964. Item #1520 8vo. 235 x 170 mm., [9 ¼ x 6 ¾ inches]. 726 pp., [1], with two separate gatherings of eight leaves each of photographic plates inserted between pages of text. Text includes Appendices: Notes; Biographical and Explanatory Notes; Bibliography; Index. Forty-six b&w illustrations on separate photographic plates as well as five b&w maps and a genealogy of Mussolini within the text. Quarter-bound in publishers’ black cloth with silver letter on the spine and red paper over boards; illustrated endpapers with a map of the Italian empire in 1939; illustrated unclipped dust jacket. Book is Fine: a used copy, but one with very few signs of wear and a clean text block. Jacket is Fair: substantial chipping at the head and foot of the spine and a sizable tear along the edge between the spine and upper cover; soiling and shelf wear throughout. First Edition. Ivone Kirkpatrick (1897-1964) was a British diplomat who held several important posts in the British Foreign Office prior to the start of World War II. These included positions in the British Embassy at Rome and at the Vatican from 1930-33 as well as in the British Embassy at Berlin from 1933-38. As a result, he was intimately involved in the study and management of the two most infamous dictators of the twentieth century for nearly a decade during their rise and consolidation of power. Mussolini is a monumental biography based on first-hand knowledge and extensive research whose immense value lies in the author’s deep familiarity with his subject.
Price: $65.00