THE PHENOMENAL INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER ''An anti-fascist history lesson disguised as a novel'' New York Times ''Extraordinary'' TLS ''The novel Italy has been waiting for. A masterpiece'' Roberto Saviano A startling look into the fascist mindset, a portrait of unrelenting determination, and an impeccable work of historical fiction. M tells the story of the rise of fascism from within the mind of its founder. A gripping and masterful expose, it explores Benito Mussolini''s rise to power and a movement that, amidst a failing democracy, came to shape the world. '' Panoptic and polyphonic , Scurati''s book gives us the experiences of the fearful and the feared, the rhetoric of both the revolutionaries and the reactionaries ... an immense mosaic '' Lucy Hughes-Hallett, New Statesman ''An indisputable literary achievement ... Italo Calvino would have loved it '' El Pais