The title is very accurate; this is a book about Benito Mussolini, and the focus is on his rise and his fall. If you are looking for a book about the origins of Italian fascism, pre-WW II Italy, or the Italian Campaign, this is not the book for you. The focus is on Mussolini's personality, his habits of life, and his physical and psychological decline in his last months, which are chronicled almost daily. It is well-written, and Hibbert went to Italy in 1960 to consult original sources, including those who had known Mussolini personally, so it provides a perspective which cannot be duplicated today. Nevertheless I feel I learned far too much about Mussolini's ulcer diet and far too little about the larger issues of his regime. The only exception to this was the references to the role of the Communist Party in the partisan resistance in the final months of the war. In a footnote Hibbert details the "Dongo Treasure"--- the spoils Il Duce's "Social Republic" was attempting to smuggle out to Switzerland---down to the last British sovereign and explains that this is the origin of the nickname "Palazzo Dongo" for the Roman headquarters of the Communist Party of Italy. Otherwise a book of limited scope.