What is Fascism

<p><em>What is Fascism</em> is a collection of essays newspaper articles and interviews discourses and polemics on the subject of fascism by Giovanni Gentile (AD 1875-1944) the philosopher of Fascism. The collection was written (or spoken and later transcribed) over the course of several years prior to its publication in book format in 1925 under the Italian title of <em>Che cosa è il fascismo</em>.</p><p><br></p><p>Trained as a philosopher Giovanni Gentile spent many years as an academic writing books and teaching. He held multiple posts as professor of philosophy at various Italian universities including the University of Rome. Later he served as the Minister of Public Education during the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini. His major contribution to the history of philosophy includes his own brand of absolute idealism or new-Hegelianism known as actual idealism.</p><p><br></p><p>Readers new to Gentile or to fascism in general may be surprised if not shocked depending on their political leanings to understand how close fascism is or was to the liberalism of the 19<sup>th</sup> century. Seeing that in part fascism is liberalism: at least the liberalism of men who sincerely believed in freedom and had however an austere concept of it... liberalism as I understand it and as the men of the glorious Right of the Risorgimento understood it the liberalism of freedom in the laws and consequently in the strong State and in the State conceived of as an ethical reality.</p>