Mussolini's Daughter

The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe

By: Caroline Moorehead

Narrated by: Kathleen Gati

A thrilling biography of Edda Mussolini—Benito Mussolini’s favorite daughter, one of the most influential women in 1930s Europe—and a heart-stopping account of the unraveling of the Fascist dream in Italy, from award-winning historian and author of the acclaimed Resistance Quartet, Caroline Moorehead

“Reads like a page-turning thriller.”—BookPage

Edda Mussolini was the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s oldest and favorite child. At 19, she was married to Count Galleazzo Ciano, Il Duce’s Minister for Foreign Affairs during the 1930s, the most turbulent decade in Italy’s fascist history. In the years preceding World War II, Edda ruled over Italy’s aristocratic families and the cultured and middle classes while selling Fascism on the international stage. How a young woman wielded such control is the heart of Moorehead’s fascinating history. The issues that emerge reveal not only a great deal about the power of fascism, but also the ease with which dictatorship so easily took hold in a country weakened by war and a continent mired in chaos and desperate for peace.

Drawing on a wealth of archival material, some newly released, along with memoirs and personal papers, Mussolini’s Daughter paints a portrait of a woman in her twenties whose sheer force of character and ruthless narcissism helped impose a brutal and vulgar movement on a pliable and complicit society. Yet as Moorehead shows, not even Edda’s colossal willpower, her scheming, nor her father’s avowed love could save her husband from Mussolini’s brutal vengeance.

As she did in her Resistance Quartet, Moorehead delves deep into the past, exploring what fascism felt like to those living under it, how it blossomed and grew, and how fascists and aristocrats joined forces to pursue ten years of extravagance, amorality, and excessive luxury—greed, excess, and ambition that set the world on fire. The result is a powerful portrait of a young woman who played a key role in one of the most terrifying and violent periods in human history.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Mind Blowing

I knew very little about Italy in those years. Growing up in San Francisco I knew a lot of Italians who had left Italy before Mussolini came to power. They probably knew as little about what happened as I did. Nobody cared. Then as an adult, I went to Italy to visit, and I felt that something was wrong. Now I know what it was.

Fascinating story told so well

I loved hearing the history of the family from the perspective of the daughter’s experiences. Well done. So interesting.

Great view of history from women’s eyes .

WW2 as seen by a woman who was there . Her story compelling, indulgent, selfish intrigue.

Details of Italian oppression by fascists curiously absent; interesting revelations but sometimes cringe-worthy narration.

If you are familiar with Italian, be warned that the narrator’s butchering of many very basic level pronunciations are not only confusing, (especially re: names of places and people), but also perhaps do a disservice to the authenticity of the account. I was disappointed at what seemed like a glossing over of Edda’s life during the years of fascist oppression and Nazi occupation, but there were also many insightful revelations and the writing was great. Especially interesting and novel were portions which detail her interactions with Ciano before his execution.

***P.S. It is sad to see several other reviews and comments here which include ignorant, racist stereotypes and offending language against Italians. Perhaps with more reading they’d appreciate the irony in such comments regarding the biography of a fascist.

Overall I liked it

I suppose I was expecting more of a biographical story on Edda Mussolini. About 25% of the book revolves around her and her life. The rest was other characters and background. But I found it relevant to understanding Edda as well as her family in the context of the time.