Mussolini's Shadow

Married to Benito Mussolinis favorite daughter Edda, young Count Galeazzo Ciano (19031944) became il Duces confidant, emissary, and heir apparent in the years preceding World War II. Appointed foreign minister in 1936, Ciano played a central role in the Axis partnership negotiations with Hitler and von Ribbentrop and masterminded Italys invasions of Albania and Greece. But Ciano came to disagree with his father-in-law over Italys partnership with Germany, and he joined with other dissident Fascists plotting to remove Mussolini from office. Ciano was found guilty of treason, and despite desperate attempts to trade his sensational diaries for his life, he was shot. This is the first biography of Ciano in English, and it is based in part on those diaries, smuggled by Edda out of the country in her own dramatic escape. Mussolinis Shadow peels away much of the mystery of the Fascist era, provides an eye-opening account of the ruling figures of Germany and Italy, and offers a close-up view of the daily workings of Mussolinis regime. Count Cianos story is that of a highly intelligent manbut one also frivolous, arrogant, and overbearingwhose short life was characterized by espionage, intrigue, sexual scandal, assassination, and the abuse of power. As a leading player in Italys alliance with Germany, Ciano gambled with his own fate and with the fate of his country.