Fascism and the Italians of Montreal

Book excerpt: This book of interviews is an absorbing autobiography of the Italian community of Montreal, and its encounters with important events in Canada and in Europe from 1992 to 1945: from Mussolini's March on Rome to the Concordat between the Catholic Church and the Italian state; from the war in Ethiopia to the Pact of Steel signed by Mussolini and Hitler; from the Spanish civil war to the declaration of war between Italy and Canada. The reader will discover sensational revelations about the hundreds of Italian Canadians who were interned by the Canadian government during the Second World War -- often on trumped-up charges and without a single shred of evidence against them. These interviews recount the Italian community's passions and sorrows, its exuberant love of life and its struggle for survival and dignity in America.