"MUSSOLINI DID THIS TO US BUT HIS HATRED HAS BEEN POWERLESS AGAINST OUR LOVE"

TREVES, Paolo. What Mussolini Did to Us. London: Victor Gollancz, 1940. Octavo, original black cloth, original dust jacket. $350.

First edition, translated from the original Italian manuscript, of a prominent socialist's contemporary memoirs of life in Italy under Mussolini.

The author, Paolo Treves, was a journalist for the Milanese socialist newspaper, La Giustizia, in the 1920s. When Mussolini came to power, Treves was detained for the government—likely because Mussolini hated his socialist father, Claudio Treves. Paolo Treves subsequently fled Italy to become part of the Executive Committee for the Partito Socialista Italiana, then operating underground due to the fascists. After training as a linguist in London, Treves was scouted by the BBC who installed him as a scriptwriter and broadcaster for their Italian section. He worked at the BBC until 1944 and, while there, published two books on life under Mussolini, including this one. Translated by Casimiro T. Isolani. See Healey 7543. A couple pencil notations to dust jacket.

Book very nearly fine, dust jacket extremely good, with a few spots of soiling and light wear and toning to extremities.