Benito Mussolini was an unusually violent person and an extremely adaptable politician. From a radical socialist, he became the creator of fascism. His personal dictatorship was a mix of terror and mass consent. He maintained a dual rule with the opposing forces of far-right fascism and the national conservative elites of Italy through a cult of personality, where he portrayed himself as "Duce." Wolfgang Schieder brilliantly summarizes the essence of this life while also paying special attention to the relationship with Adolf Hitler, who was initially Mussolini's role model and whose defeat ultimately sealed his own fate.