La Amante del Populismo / Populism's Lover

La conversaci鏮, siempre amable pero nunca complaciente, se desarrolla 墔il, aguda, inteligente y desparpajada; en su decurso ning aspecto de la vida privada y de la acci鏮 plica del hombre que impuso a Italia un r嶲imen totalitario y autocr嫢ico es dejado de lado, ning detalle es eludido. Por estas p墔inas desfilan las primeras armas de Mussolini como periodista, su carrera militar, su ascenso pol癃ico, su v璯culo con Adolf Hitler y su decisiva participaci鏮 en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, pero tambi幯 su volc嫕ica intimidad y los aspectos m嫳 oscuros de su personalidad. Aut幯tica obra maestra, La amante del populismo ratifica a Aguinis como uno de los intelectuales m嫳 lidos de nuestro tiempo.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

Italian journalist and intellectual Margherita Sarfatti (1880-1961), daughter of a rich Venetian family of Jewish descent, was Benito Mussolini's biographer--as well as his lover for twenty years--and shared some of his most decisive moments in the inception and development of the fascist movement in Italy, clear root of populism, both for the left- and right-wing. After an extensive and rigorous investigation, Marcos Aguinis gets his voice back and uses it in a remarkable historical piece in which--based on Margherita's written work and after creating an ensemble of history, review, essay, and novel--he builds a singular interview, insightful in more than one way.

This conversation, always kind, but never complacent, unfolds in a fast, sharp, smart, and easy manner. In his discourse, he never leaves aside any aspect of the private life of this man who imposed a totalitarian and authoritarian regime in Italy; no detail eludes him. Through these pages we witness how Mussolini's main weapons as a journalist march on, his military career, his political ascent, his link with Adolf Hitler, and his crucial participation in the Second World War, but also his volcanic intimacy and the darkest traits of his personality. An authentic masterpiece, Populism's Lover ratifies Aguinis as one of the most lucid intellectuals of our time.