Tuscany, a major agricultural region, played a key role in the rise of fascism to power. This is the first detailed study of the social origins of the fascist reaction within Tuscan society, offering an analysis of the tensions in the social fabric of the region to which fascism responded with such violence. Tuscan fascism was second to none in its violence, organizational strength, intransigence, and missionary zeal. In both town and countryside the central task is to answer the question of who supported fascism, and why. To what extent did Tuscany conform to national patterns? What were the...