R. J. B. Bosworth

Richard James Boon Bosworth (7 December 1943) is an Australian historian and author, and a leading expert on Benito Mussolini and Fascist Italy, having written extensively on both topics.

Bosworth received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Sydney, before going on to doctoral study at St John's College, Cambridge. He held various teaching positions at the University of Sydney, the University of Western Australia and the University of Reading. He has also held various fellowships, including fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, research fellow in the Humanities Research Centre of Australian National University and senior research fellow in history at Jesus College, Oxford.

Personal life and education Richard James Boon Bosworth was born to Richard C.L. Bosworth – himself a professor of Chemistry – and Thelma H.E. Bosworth on 7 December 1943 in Sydney, New South Wales. Bosworth married Michal Gwyn Newell on 23 September 1965. They have two children: Edmund and Mary, the latter a professor of criminology at St. Cross College, Oxford. In the same year, Bosworth completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney, graduating with first-class honours. In 1971, Bosworth earned a PhD at the University of Cambridge.

Promoted to professor of history at the University of Western Australia in 1987, Bosworth was head of department from 1988 to 1990.

Bosworth was deputy or acting director of the Frederick May Foundation for Italian Studies from 1981 to 1986. He also worked as a research fellow in the Humanities Research Centre of Australian National University in 1991, visiting overseas scholar at St John's College, Cambridge and visiting professor at various institutions. and of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Publications Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Destruction of Liberal Italy (1973) Bosworth wrote his first book as part of a series – Topics in Modern History – seeking to assist high school and university teachers and students, providing a "guiding and stimulating" overview of Fascist Italy, rather than in-depth historical analysis. Noting that Fascist Italy has not garnered the attention of Nazi Germany, Bosworth makes clear his anti-Fascist tone from the beginning, aiming for "a more serious study of Italian Fascism than is usually given" by Anglo-Saxons 'misinterpreting and misunderstanding' Italian history. He presents Italy up to 1945 as pretending to be a Great Power in Europe, despite poor geography and resources, and argues that this pretence has taken its toll. The book constitutes a "severely critical analysis of Italian diplomatic aims and methods." Stemming from Bosworth's Cambridge PhD thesis, Italy: The Least of the Great Powers has been said to possess an extraordinarily 'rich and complete' bibliography. Accordingly, Bosworth presents the Italian king, Victor Emmanuel III, as a figurehead, delegating power and rarely making positive foreign interventions. Bosworth portrays decision makers largely uninfluenced by external pressures, including an Italian public who wanted peace.

Explaining Auschwitz and Hiroshima (1993)

In this book, Bosworth aims to "pursue the question of the 'comfortable' or 'mad' ways in which societies went through the Second World War have historicised and thus comprehended that experience," emphasising that historicization over time. He particularly examines the historiographical controversies which occur when a society's account of the war seems inadequate. Bosworth agrees with Antonio Gramsci and others that commentators must acknowledge the intricacies of Italian history, such as Italy's differing histories between the North and South, country and rural, or government and population. Bosworth emphasises the discrepancy in vision of 'legal' (bureaucracy) and 'real' (population) Italy, especially concerning 'dreams of empire'. Bosworth uses the notion of paese, an Italian word for both country and village, to illustrate the complexities of Italian nationhood, stating that each paese can be seen as "a world-ranging 'community'" or simply a village. Bosworth opposes the work of Emilio Gentile and Renzo De Felice. He accuses both of being 'anti-anti-Fascist' (p. 23), failing to adequately condemn Italian Fascism, although this stance has been criticised as 'politicising scholarly activity'. Bosworth argues that recent scholarship has "deflected the field away from its moral and political purpose, which is to be vigilant against renewed fascism and protective of anti-fascism," attributing this failure to cultural relativism and postmodernism. The book begins with Mussolini's final two years, then explains how he got there. Bosworth presents Mussolini as a "bully, coward, and a failure", who could not effectively modernise Italy, and who represented the Italy of his time. He even controversially contends that Mussolini "might have entered history as a figure of some light and some darkness", had he retired in 1932.

Reception

Referred to as a "well-received biography of Mussolini", Mussolini won Bosworth the $20,000 Premier's Prize at the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, the most prestigious book prize in Western Australia. At the same Awards, Mussolini also won an award in the non-fiction category. Nationalism (2007) Bosworth's book joined a quickly growing body of literature on nationalism. Bosworth primarily argues that nationalism is flawed, tempting us to lose sight of the goal of humankind's flourishing. Bosworth contrasts the resulting Enlightenment ideals with competing worldviews and describes their continuing conflict. The book particularly highlights the role of the Roman Catholic Church in such power struggles.

Italian Venice: A History (2014) Bosworth sets out to provide a fresh description of Venice, knowing that the task has been declared impossible. Most commentators focus on the Republic from its foundation in 421 to its destruction by Napoleon in 1797. Bosworth explores the sentiment surrounding Venice as "the most beautiful city in the world, but...also one of the saddest." He focuses on her 'modern histories', especially how Venice reacted to Italian ownership and how it in turn impacted the city. In chapter 3, he describes the devastating impact of the First World War on Venice, going on to consider "what Fascism did to Venice and what Venice did to Fascism." According to Bosworth, Petacci was supported in the affair by her family, who hoped to manipulate her for their own benefit. Bosworth fits into the orthodox Anglo-Saxon scholarly tradition on Italian Fascism: his biography focuses on Mussolini's politics, rather than his personality.

Interaction with scholarship on Italian Fascism Various books, mostly authored by Bosworth. The one written by Gentile provides a very different historiographical philosophy The most notable interaction between Bosworth and his contemporaries on the topic of Italian Fascism concerns the nature and purpose of the scholarship itself. Especially in his book The Italian Dictatorship, Bosworth condemns contemporary scholarship for what he sees as a failure to fulfil its moral and political duty. He particularly criticises Renzo De Felice as allegedly fitting into a group of 'anti-anti-Fascists', who fail to adequately condemn Italian Fascism. In this, Bosworth has been criticised as 'politicising scholarly activity' in a way which has caused him to neglect important advancements in the decades preceding his work.

Bosworth also critiques scholarly distinction between Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, emphasising instead their similarities. He calls for scholarship to approach Fascism similarly to scholars of Nazism, applying similar historiographical questions. However, he acknowledges significant differences between foreign policies of Mussolini and German dictator Adolf Hitler.