Fascism, Aviation and Mythical Modernity - Hardcover

“Fernando Esposito’s important and complex study, based on his dissertation, picks up on the theme of machine dreams Peter Fritzsche first presented some two decades ago but seeks to integrate it with Roger Griffin’s definition of Fascism as the palingenesis of the nation. ... not only students of Fascist discourse but those seeking to understand the many cultures of early aeronautics will benefit from it.” (Guillaume de Syon, Journal of Modern History, Vol. 89 (3), September, 2017)

“Its profundity, sophistication and scholarship draw on and will serve academics in both the humanities and social sciences – in politics, philosophy, history, cultural studies, transport history, art and architecture, and European studies of various stripes. For transport historians, it is a signal treatment of the ideological machinations and artistic ailerons of aviation. For Italian studies, Esposito’s book is a rich source of evidence and a provocative analysis of a strand of ideas and performances that buoyed fascism.” (Gordon Pirie, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, Vol. 22 (3), June, 2017)

“Fernando Esposito’s book explores the centrality of aviation to inter-war fascist ideology. ... It is a valuable addition to studies on fascism and aviation, and, more broadly, will also be of interest to readers looking for sophisticated analyses of the interplay between technology and ideology.” (W. Zaidi, English Historical Review, Vol. 132 (556), June, 2017) 

"Aviation offered the last great new metaphor for rethinking the world. From Brescia's air meet in 1909, which both Franz Kafka and Gabriele d'Annunzio attended, to the 'right stuff' of the Apollo astronauts in 1969, flight reenchanted possibility and direction, reinserted danger, and revalidated authority. As Fernando Esposito shows in this enormously learned and accomplished study, flight paths enabled modern myth-making, but they veered toward fascism."- Peter Fritzsche, Professor of History, University of Illinois, USA