Bette Dangerous

Bette Dangerous

‘Losing Sleep and Plagued By An Ulcer’

Road trippin’ with Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s ‘Strongmen’

Heidi Siegmund Cuda's avatar
Heidi Siegmund Cuda
Sep 09, 2023
∙ Paid
3
Share

Get 40% off for 1 year

‘What Times Those Were’

Benito Mussolini was ‘losing sleep and plagued by an ulcer’ — the murder of the Socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti had de-popularized the Italian strongman, known as Il Duce.

As Ruth Ben-Ghiat wrote in ‘Strongmen — Mussolini to the Present’, the lawyer Matteotti was ‘tall, urbane, and known for his integrity’ — everything Mussolini…

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Bette Dangerous to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Heidi Siegmund Cuda
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture