My Rise and Fall by: Benito Mussolini

This is one of those books that just kept me astounded! I know that the standard mentality of a person that rises up to become a dictator has to be somewhat of an egomaniac. But this story was amazingly so. To read this book one would believe that Mussolini single handedly managed to get Italy into World War I, and then managed to pull them back from the brink of complete destruction following the war.

There were several passages that read more like the old wives tale of what life was like in your parent's day -- "I would walk 12 miles to school, uphill both ways, always in the snow, with no shoes, and there was nothing to eat, and I was always grateful for what I had." Mussolini actually has a passage that sounds like a slightly adjusted version of this tale, when he describes his surgeries following his wounding, during World War I. He had some 27 surgeries, and all of them were accomplished without anesthesia, except for two -- and there was never a word of complaint from him.

I did find interesting his insights on his successful use of the press to bring about his goals, in taking over power. When he couldn't get the current press of the day to print his points of view, and established his own printing company that printed its own paper. This he successfully used through out his life to sway the thinking of the people, and shape what they believed, and accepted.

This is an interesting look into the mind of a narcissistic personality, with an exceptionally pronounced God Complex. But it does provide for some interesting reading -- if you can get past Mussolini's over sized ego, long enough to actually understand what he was talking about specifically. But if you are looking for unbiased history -- this is certainly not the source to consider using.