Emilio Gentile

Gabriele D'Annunzio - poet, novelist, playwright, journalist, soldier and politician - shaped Italian artistic, political and military life either side of 1900. Filmed entirely at the Vittoriale degli Italiani, the hillside citadel above Lake Garda where he spent his final years, the documentary moves through the house, the archive, the park, the amphitheatre and the mausoleum. Giordano Bruno Guerri, president of the Vittoriale foundation, leads a chaptered account of D'Annunzio's writing, his affairs, his politics and his military exploits, closing on his uneasy relationship with Mussolini, who admired and feared him in equal measure.

After the World War I, Mussolini's perspective on life is severely altered; once a willful socialist reformer, now obsessed with the idea of power, he founds the National Fascist Party in 1921 and assumes political power in 1922, becoming the Duce, dictator of Italy. His success encourages Hitler to take power in Germany in 1933, opening the dark road to World War II. (Originally released as a two-part miniseries. Includes colorized archival footage.)

Program about historical dissemination, presented by Paolo Mieli. Each episode sees a historian interacting with the presenter and three young university students.