Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Blood and Power

  • The Rise and Fall of Italian Fascism
  • By: John Foot
  • Narrated by: Daniel Philpott
  • Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (47 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Blood and Power cover art

Blood and Power

By: John Foot
Narrated by: Daniel Philpott
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £13.00

Buy Now for £13.00

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Burgundians cover art
The Thirty Years War cover art
Children of the Night cover art
Great Hatred cover art
The Weimar Years cover art
The Wages of Destruction cover art
Bad Mexicans cover art
In Hitler's Munich cover art
A Time of Fear cover art
A Certain Idea of France cover art
Architects of Terror cover art
Collapse cover art
Devil-Land cover art
Populista cover art
The White Pill cover art
How to Be a Dictator cover art

Summary

'Clear, cool, plainly written and devastating’ Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Times Literary Supplement

A major history of the rise and fall of Italian fascism: a dark tale of violence, ideals and a country at war.

In the aftermath of the First World War, the seeds of fascism were sown in Italy. While the country reeled in shock, a new movement emerged from the chaos: one that preached hatred for politicians and love for the fatherland; one that promised to build a ‘New Roman Empire’, and make Italy a great power once again.

Wearing black shirts and wielding guns, knives and truncheons, the proponents of fascism embraced a climate of violence and rampant masculinity. Led by Benito Mussolini, they would systematically destroy the organisations of the left, murdering and torturing anyone who got in their way.

In Blood and Power, historian John Foot draws on decades of research to chart the turbulent years between 1915 and 1945, and beyond. Drawing widely from accounts of people across the political spectrum – fascists, anti-fascists, communists, anarchists, victims, perpetrators and bystanders – he tells the story of fascism and its legacy, which still, disturbingly, reverberates to this day.
©2022 John Foot (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"This is scholarly history at its best—vivid and clear. John Foot’s narrative glitters from beginning to end. It offers both a highly readable account of Mussolini’s ventennio and a rare depiction of how ordinary—and a few extraordinary—Italians experienced his thuggish dictatorship. Warmly recommended for anyone seeking to know what can happen when power falls into the hands of vainglorious nationalists." (John Hooper)

"One hundred years after the rise to power of Fascism in Italy, John Foot’s bracing and bold Blood and Power vividly recreates the on-the-ground experience of life under the regime." (Robert S C Gordon, Serena Professor of Italian, University of Cambridge)

"A gripping new history of fascism that privileges the voices of ordinary Italians and reminds us of the central role of violence in establishing and enforcing Mussolini's dictatorship. An excellent and timely work." (Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Professor of History and Italian Studies, New York University)

What listeners say about Blood and Power

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    27
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    26
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    23
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

So sanctimonious - and so, so boring.

I have really tried to listen to this, getting to about 25% on each occasion before giving up.

I quickly reckoned that there would be no pleasure in it, what with the fussy, sanctimonious, repetitive writing and the performance which manages - amazingly - to be exaggerated and wooden at the same time: it both sucks and blows.

After my second attempt I realised that there was no profit of knowledge or understanding to be had from it either. You have to be awake for that.

My experience of this book is that it's just an endless round of prolix, repetitive condemnation of squadrista violence (we already know, especially after the first dozen) interspersed with little equivocations about the behaviour of the socialists, who were not one single jot better than the fascists, just less successful. A pox on them both.

I read and listen to quite a lot of history books, I'm especially interested in the history of Italy. My advice is to buy something else, unless you actually want to die of boredom.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fantastic coverage of the fascist period of Italy

This book provides a close-to-comprehensive (more on this later) look at how fascism rose to power in Italy. It ranges from the early 1900s (with some references to the late 1800s, all the way up to present day, with the core of the book focusing from around 1914 to about 1947/the late 40s. It describes in vivid detail the atrocities of acts committed by truly vile individuals, to a shocking degree. The part covering Mussolini's death and the following days is particularly graphic. It debunks many myths and excuses passed around about the supposed light touch of fascism in the period, and details the rapid and total decimation of opposition to Mussolini's rise to power in the early days of his rule and the preceding period.

Direct quotes, eye-witness accounts, related literature, references to photographs and footage and even memories of the author's own ancestors form an objective view of the period.

My only criticisms are as follows:

1) In the first part of the book, we are told on numerous occasions how the liberal apparatus, state, government etc. of Italy at the time was either nearly or totally passive in the face of clear aggression from fascist forces, right up until an attempt to declare martial law. Police forces let people get away with literal murder, looked on while brutal beatings took place (inside places as public as Milan's galleria). The author never once attempts to explains exactly why the state and authorities were so non-interventionist. Why did a whole series of liberal prime ministers ignore the ransacking if newspaper offices, beatings in public places, murders, etc.? It's never explained. It's not like these officials were fascist themselves, so why?

2) While overall it's told quite well, in many places the writing isn't smooth, is quite clunky, with multiple repetitions and poorly structured phrases. In some places it reads very professionally, while in others it appears a bit amateur.

3) The narrator speaks very clearly and is a good fit, but frequently commits jarring mistakes with intonation. He'll read the middle of a sentence like it's the end, and sometimes use long pauses. He often puts intonation and emphasis in entirely the wrong place.

Despite this, overall I highly recommend this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A brilliant description of a truly awful period.

I went to Salo with my Italian girlfriend in the 1980s not knowing anything about it. She whispered to me that the people near us were old fascists paying homage. This came back to me over the years as it was such a strange place. On reading this book the whole significance of it and what it symbolised was revealed. At times, the descriptions of the cruelty and brutality were nauseating but necessary for all of us to know about. While the Germans have all been made to pay penance for what happened under Hitler - even though the younger generations were not even born then - the Italians seem to have evaded any sense of guilt or shame. In a sense, this is cowardly and certainly shameful. I recall an Italian neighbour once, out of the blue, telling me of seeing his fellow soldiers massacre Yugoslavians during the war. Once again, this didn’t lead me to question the “truth” about Italy in the 20s, 30s and during the war. However, this wonderful book reveals all, and it paints much of Italy being quite savage with a truly genocidal behaviour toward Libyans, Ethiopians and others. Lastly, the narration is superb with, for once, someone who can actually pronounce the Italian words properly.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Violent and Dark Era in Italy.

Well written and read book which explains how fascism came to be in Italy during the early years of twenty century. I recommend anyone who is interested in the modern history of Italy to listen to this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating history of Italy and Fascism

An account of how fascism took and maintained power. Resonates with some aspects of the present day.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant

The story of fascism has been too often mellowed down in the name of "reconciliation". Every Italian should read this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

interesting in the current context

interesting listen especially now (far right just won the Italian election). An great, in depth look at the rise of Fascism and how it all came apart for Mussolini.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An indictment of Fascism

Well read, this book provides a clear insight about the real nature of Fascism. A welcome addition.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A well researched history

Pros: Well researched, narrated excellently and covers a large time frame.
Cons: Very broad spectrum for the length of book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Excelent insight into what life was like in Fascist Italy

Excelent book on what life of an average peasant was like in Italy under the rule of Mousolini. We never tend to think about what it is actually like for the people who lived under such regime might have been like but this book puts it in perspective. Also excelent narrative. Wouls highly recomend this book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!