M: The Ascent to Power

The second volume of Antonio Scurati's masterful trilogy, acclaimed as one of the great historical novels of the 21st century, and an international bestseller. M: The Ascent to Power takes the reader through the 1930s as Benito Mussolini transcends his youth as a small-time newspaperman, agitator, and socialist to become the terrifyingly charismatic Il Duce, with the drums of the Second World War beginning to rumble across Europe. His speeches and promises have won him the faith of Italy's poor, still recovering from the ravages of the First World War and economic deprivation. Now, Benito Mussolini is in power--and he is molding the Italian polity into a fearsome police state that will define fascism for the world. M: The Ascent to Power follows Mussolini to the precipice of World War II. Il Duce's will, his shrewd propaganda, and an extensive network of torture and repression combine to propel Italy's National Fascist Party forward. Mussolini's Blackshirts march on Rome. He declares the Slavic peoples barbarians. His government takes over Italian business. And although he at first deems his own nation unprepared for global war, Mussolini watches Chancellor Hitler's battlefield successes and decides Italy's natural allies and best chances lie with him. In the M series, Antonio Scurati tells the story of fascism from within the mind of its founder, the man known to his followers as Il Duce. Steeped in historical detail and interspersed with period documents and sources, this masterful saga explores the seductive power of nationalism and idolatry, revealing how authoritarianism took hold and a nation bent to the will of one ruthless strongman. Provocative and resonant, M is a chilling reminder that the past is never gone, and that it holds urgent lessons for us today.