This much-awarded work by one of Italy's most esteemed historians of fascism, Mauro Canali, is now available in English translation. Based on a wealth of previously unavailable judicial and archival material, it sheds light on how fascism exercised power through violence and corruption from the very beginning. The book reveals the motives that led Mussolini to order the kidnapping and murder of Socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti in 1924, a turning point in Mussolini's grasp of total power in Italy. Canali further explores the corrupt dealings between the Mussolini family and the American Sinclair Oil Company that Matteotti had intended to denounce in the Italian parliament the day after his death.

Mauro Canali is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Camerino, Italy.

1. Giacomo Matteotti.- 2. Oil and the Contract with Sinclair.- 3. That June of 1924.- 4. La Fascist Ceka.- 5. The Responsibilities of the Fascist Regime.- 6. Doubts Regarding the Motive.- 7. The Perpetrators during the Fascist Period.- 8. Carlo Silvestri.- 9. Financial Aid to the Matteotti Family.