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Title: The Ciano Diaries, 1939 - 1943: The Complete, Unabridged Diaries of Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1936-1943 by Galeazzo Ciano, Hugh Gibson, Sumner Welles, Count Galeazzo Ciano ISBN: 1-931313-74-1 Publisher: Simon Publications Pub. Date: July, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Historically and Politically important work
Comment: There are very few published writings by those that sat in positions of power during the period leading up to and during the Second World War that are of this personal and telling nature. This is the great difference between Ciano's Diary and the writing of the defeated or victorious from this time.
Ciano was not looking back and writing in an attempt to absolve himself of his role nor was he allowing the glow of victory to taint his recollection of events.
These sometimes seemingly shallow entries in his personal diary can allow us to view events of unfathomable consequence from his seat and without the ideological raging or gossamer thin excuses and attempts at self absolution of many other works; Albert Speer being a prime example of the latter; written by politicians or those that held office at this time.
To read this Diary in search of ideological or moral answers would be misdirected but to study this Diary and gain insight into Ciano, Mussolini and the machinations and power struggles of what was in reality a far from stable Dictatorship with an often tenuous alliance with Hitler's Reich would be to serve yourself well. This is a work that no scholar of Politics or History should overlook.
Rating: 2
Summary: Rather pointless exercise...
Comment: This diary has little interest: no political analysis and no view on military affairs... obviously Ciano and the rest of the Italian government and military have no clue about what's happening around them. They keep saying stupidly: 'this war is going to be long'. Needless to say, not a world of moral or ethical judgment.
Most entries are criticism of some inept Italian General (too fat, and dyes his hair !), complaints about the Germans , or complaints about Albanians stealing silver cutlery at official dinners. Admittedly there is some emotion after 1942 when they start to realize that everything is going wrong, but the psychological analysis is very shallow (Ciano merely notes the 'depressed' mood of everybody after 1942). Nothing about Ciano's personal life in Rome's upper class, which would probably have been more interesting.
For a clever (too clever ?) Italian view of the war, read Kaputt, by Curzio Malaparte.
Rating: 4
Summary: Offers great historical insight
Comment: Written as personal diary, this book offers a keen insight into the events leading to World War II. Count Ciano, Mussolini's son-in-law, served as his foreign minister. Ciano opposed Italy's participation in the war and disliked Hitler. Yet Ciano also has his share of faults and moments of poor judgement. Undoutedly one of the most honest books from the period. The editing is often uneven. Some material contained is trite. The last entry, when Ciano knows he willbe executed by the Fascist puppet state, is quite moving.
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Title: Mussolini's Shadow: The Double Life of Count Galeazzo Ciano by Ray Moseley ISBN: 0300079176 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: April, 2000 List Price(USD): $45.00 |
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Title: My Rise and Fall by Benito Mussolini, Richard Lamb, Max Ascoli ISBN: 0306808641 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: September, 1998 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
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Title: Himmler's Crusade : The Nazi Expedition to Find the Origins of the Aryan Race by Christopher Hale ISBN: 0471262927 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 03 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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