Alistair's Reviews > Edda Mussolini: The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe

Let us be frank and earnest. Reading books that aren’t fiction takes me a long time to read. There are often words I don’t understand, and sometimes I find myself re-reading sentences, and my dictionary is close at hand. So, Dear Reader, you will forgive the length of time it has taken me to finish this biography.
About the Italian fascists from the 1920s to the 1940s, I had no knowledge or understanding. I knew Italy threw their destiny behind Hitler, to their ultimate peril. I confess I’d never heard of the favoured daughter of Il Duce, leader of the fascist dictatorship. In this biography of Edda Ciano (née Mussolini), The Reader is made aware, in no uncertain terms, that Mussolini’s first-born, a girl, is his favoured child; although a girl, she remains the child, later adult, that Mussolini comes to rely on, however as Edda matures, (and that is a moot point) she becomes a transforming woman. Much is made of Edda’s resemblance to Il Duce, not only in terms of physical appearance, but also in temperament. Many times the author reinforces the family is not for talking in private or public. But at the heart of this excellent biography is Edda; her personality, her loves and hates, the forbearance she allows her husband, Ciano, to have many mistresses and lovers, somewhat following the example of his father-in-law.