The Body of Il Duce (33 page)

Chapter Seven: The Return of the Remains

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Many people helped me during the years of research. My first thanks go to Ugo Berti Arnoaldi, whose generous advice was matched by his profound knowledge of the routes that link Italian history and memory during the twentieth century. I am equally indebted to Domenico Leccisi, one of the principal actors in Mussolini's afterlife, who shared with me his archives and his store of memories. I am all the more grateful for his willingness to help given the great gulf in our political beliefs.

The children of two other prominent figures in this story offered help and information about their fathers; my thanks, therefore, to Giovan Battista Ansaldo and Roberta De Monticelli. Journalist Mario Proli supplied background on modern-day Predappio; it gives me pleasure to thank him and his mother, Rosanna Proli, who showed me around the relevant Mussolini sites. On the day I visited I was accompainied by Michele Bella, a photographer, who produced the images from Predappio and helped me choose material from the Publifoto archives. My thanks also go to those who made the American edition of this book possible. In the first place to Frederika Randall, who brought to the translation not only her literary talent but also a thorough knowledge of Italian society and culture, past and present. And to the staff of Metropolitan Books, in particular to Sara Bershtel, who believed in this project with contagious enthusiasm, and to Riva Hocherman, who edited the book with the greatest of skill and patience.

When I first set out to track the odyssey of Il Duce's body, I was encouraged by the best historian in the field, Mario Isnenghi, whom I thank for our initial conversations and for his comments on the Italian edition. Antonio Gibelli not only offered a critical reading of the text but an ongoing dialogue about the book's concerns. To Paolo Viola, finally, I owe more than thanks. I owe to him my methods and my motives for the study of history.

Index

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