Malaparte began as a fascist journalist close to Mussolini in 1922. By the early 1930s he was disenchanted and used his considerable talent as a writer to show what lay ahead in the fascist dictatorship by comparing it to the Bolshevik takeover of 1917. The book fits into the current debates on revolution and counterrevolution, as for example, in the Middle East. These are lucid and realistic views on modern politics and history. ILLUSTRATIONS: 20 b/w photographs