The Institute for the Study of War and Democracy, in partnership with the Austrian Marshall Plan Center for European Studies at the University of New Orleans, was delighted to host Eden McLean, PhD, for a conversation about her new book, Mussolini’s Children: Race and Elementary Education in Fascist Italy. 

Mussolini’s Children shows how the Fascist Italian state perversely prepared its youth for it malevolent aspirations. Joining Dr. McLean was Museum friend and advisor UNO professor Günter Bischof, PhD.

Dr. McLean is a historian of 20th century Europe, with a particular focus on Italy in the interwar period. She joined Auburn University’s Department of History in 2012 after teaching for two years at Western Connecticut State University. She earned a PhD in history from Yale University and a BA in history from the University of Virginia.

“Research and conversation show that Italy has a lot to tell us about 20th century political, cultural, and social crises and movements and responses to those crises,” she said. “I think that we as Americans often like to compare Italy to Germany or France or Briton and therefore it’s not as important, but I actually think that you can’t understand any of the national contexts without actually understanding how they interact with one another. 

“And ultimately, in terms of World War II, you cannot understand Adolph Hitler and Nazism without first understanding Benito Mussolini and Italian fascism.” 

Watch the presentation below. Visit the Museum’s online calendar for information about upcoming public programming, events, and entertainment.