Books by Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Ruth Ben-Ghiat is an internationally renowned historian, speaker, and political commentator on fascism, authoritarian leaders, and propaganda. She’s Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University and Advisor to Protect Democracy, as well as the author of several books including Fascist Modernities: Italy, 1922–1945, Italian Mobilities, and Italian Fascism’s Empire Cinema.
Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present
by Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Strongmen is a history of the authoritarian form of rule and how it has evolved over a hundred years. Post-Communists like Putin and Orban are in the book but no Communist rulers, since my aim is to study how these men ruined democracies. Most of the chapters are organized thematically. So the reader can learn, in turn, how the use of propaganda, violence, corruption, masculinity, etc. have evolved from the time of Mussolini up to the time of Trump and Erdogan today. This way we can isolate what is off-the-table, such as mass killing on the scale of Mao or Stalin and what is still used effectively today. So to come back to the question: Is Trump fascist? He is not a fascist, but he uses tools, such as rallies and propaganda and personality cults, very effectively and these tools come from the fascist past.
Interviews with Ruth Ben-Ghiat
The best books on Fascism, recommended by Ruth Ben-Ghiat
In an era of Trumpism and fake news, the word ‘fascist’ is thrown around with increasing ease and little attention paid to its origins and history. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, political commentator and historian at New York University, recommends the best books for understanding fascism’s history and recognizing it today.
