"At a moment in which public debates revolve around social media, celebrities, and unrestrained political leaders, and too many discussions turn the link between populism and mass communications tedious and repetitive, it is surprising to note that some of these features were already in place in the 1920s. . . . Giorgio Bertellini tells this story, and in quite convincing ways."—Il Manifesto
"The Divo and the Duce has the merit of discussing the titular case studies by moving beyond the distinction between film and political history, and proposes a comparative approach, so far unprecedented, that goes way beyond mere filmographic anecdotes."—Cinergie
“The weight of politics contemporary America cannot be evaded in this book, and Bertellini shows skillfully . . . that the power of culture of celebrities in American politics forms a clear and frightening chain from Mussolini to Trump. As such, the book should be read with great attention.”—Italia Contemporanea
"Making detailed use of both film history and political theory, Bertellini’s study is particularly timely, for it arrives at a moment of heightened awareness of how deeply inflected American life is by the convergence of celebrity, media, and politics."—Iperstoria
"The Divo and the Duce is the result of impressive archival research and Bertellini’s skilful application of a diverse range of theoretical frames and historical perspectives. . . . Alternating his analyses between close-ups on key protagonists and panoramic views of film and political histories, Bertellini offers a truly innovative and distinctive approach to studying the relationship between celebrity culture and political leadership."
—CINÉMA & CIE
"By interlacing the public figures of Valentino and Mussolini, The Divo and the Duce unveils the interdependence of romantic and political leadership during the 1920s. In this sense, not only does Bertellini’s work shed light on these two case studies, but it also opens up new fields of enquiry for further investigation."
—Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television
"This is a remarkable and timely study. Only someone with Bertellini’s cross-disciplinary expertise and meticulous, dogged research skills could pull together these cases and weave them together in a compelling account of the 'cinema effect' on American politics. This is a model of interdisciplinary, transnational scholarship."—Barbara Spackman, Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley
"This book is fantastic, an eminently readable milestone in the study of celebrity. Bertellini sets a new standard for archival and analytical approaches to movie stardom in the 1920s while also illuminating the political stakes of celebrity that resonate with twenty-first-century culture."—Gaylyn Studlar, author of
This Mad Masquerade: Stardom and Masculinity in the Jazz Age "An astute and thought-provoking study that brings together film studies and the transatlantic history of Italian Fascism in an original way."—Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Professor of Italian and History, New York University
"Bertellini’s brilliant book shows clearly how celebrity and promotional culture became integral to new practices of mass governance in the early twentieth century. It is a crucial history, essential also to any genealogy of the mediatized present and the rise of modes of authoritarian and neofascist governance."—Lee Grieveson, author of
Cinema and the Wealth of Nations: Media, Capital, and the Liberal World System
