The Culture of Disaster by Marie-Hélène Huet (review)

139 archeological exhibition, and he traces the development of the MAR as a museological project back to the liberal period. Finally, the fifth chapter looks at the final years of the regime from 1936 to 1945. Interestingly, Arthurs makes the point that it is precisely in these years that romanità began to be eclipsed; this despite fact that the period in question follows the Ethiopian war and the declaration of the new empire under which references to the Roman empire became increasingly aggressive and all-pervasive. The discourse of romanità became interspersed with the larger framework of the European colonial discourse of superiority and civilization; Roman history became a template according to which the whole of contemporary history was reread, but that history was also manipulated to fit new discourses such as the obsession with “race” that followed the creation of the Rome-Berlin Axis. From then on, the discourse of romanità became imbued with racial concerns, and Roman history was reread in increasingly anti-Semitic and pro-Christian terms in order to accommodate the new ideological directives that came with the German alliance. Arthurs concludes with the fate of romanità after the fall of the fascist regime. He notes that the conceptual primacy of ancient Rome was replaced by a notion of Romanness associated with the Catholic Church, and references to the Roman past were quickly stripped of any fascist association. Some of the vestiges of the fascist project have remained and become part of the political and architectural heritage that the city has to manage. This book is well-researched and eloquently argued, and it constitutes a fascinating and at times disquieting account of a process of ideology formation. It explores an interpretive territory that will be familiar to those who are acquainted with recent studies of fascist Italy. It does provide a fresh and original perspective on a key area of fascist culture, however, and it is a very interesting and welcome addition to an increasing body of studies that reads fascism as a particularly “modern” phenomenon. It is also a powerful reminder of the constant presence, uses, and abuses of the legacy of the past in modern, western identity formation. The book will be of keen interest to scholars and students of European and Italian history and culture.