The Woman Who Shot Mussolini

"At 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 7, 1926, a woman stepped out of the crowd on Rome's Campidoglio Square and shot Benito Mussolini at point-blank range. He escaped virtually unscathed. Violet Gibson, who expected to be thanked for her action, was arrested, labeled a 'crazy Irish spinster' and a 'half-mad mystic'--and promptly forgotten. Now, in an elegant work of reconstruction, Frances Stonor Saunders retrieves this remarkable figure from the lost historical record. In a grand, tragic narrative, full of suspense and mystery, conspiracy and backroom diplomacy, she vividly resurrects the life and times of a woman who sought to forestall catastrophe, whatever the cost."--Cover.

The astonishing untold story of a woman who tried to stop the rise of Fascism and change the course of history

At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 7, 1926, a woman stepped out of the crowd on Rome’s Campidoglio Square. Less than a foot in front of her stood Benito Mussolini. As he raised his arm to give the Fascist salute, the woman raised hers and shot him at point-blank range. Mussolini escaped virtually unscathed, cheered on by practically the whole world. Violet Gibson, who expected to be thanked for her action, was arrested, labeled a “crazy Irish spinster” and a “half-mad mystic”—and promptly forgotten.

Now, in an elegant work of reconstruction, Frances Stonor Saunders retrieves this remarkable figure from the lost historical record. She examines Gibson’s aristocratic childhood in the Dublin elite, with its debutante balls and presentations at court; her engagement with the critical ideas of the era—pacifism, mysticism, and socialism; her completely overlooked role in the unfolding drama of Fascism and the cult of Mussolini; and her response to a new and dangerous age when anything seemed possible but everything was at stake.

In a grand tragic narrative, full of suspense and mystery, conspiracy and backroom diplomacy, Stonor Saunders vividly resurrects the life and times of a woman who sought to forestall catastrophe, whatever the cost.

Library Journal

Of the many people who tried to assassinate Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, only one was a woman—and a petite, well-to-do Irishwoman at that. Stonor Saunders (The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters) seeks to resurrect the lost story of Violet Gibson, who wounded Mussolini during an assassination attempt in 1926 but has been relegated to footnote status in history. Gibson's story is remarkable; unfortunately, the archival record of her life before the assassination attempt is thin. Stonor Saunders attempts to make up for this by tying Gibson to hemmed-in women of the time, such as Virginia Woolf and James Joyce's daughter, Lucia. The result is a book heavily padded with irrelevant digressions and musings. While the author clearly feels passionately about resurrecting not only the story but the public image of her subject, she fails to make the case that Gibson was anything other than mentally ill. VERDICT An interesting case plucked out of obscurity fails to provide enough fodder for a full-length book. An optional choice.—Elizabeth Goldman, Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont.

This book is the astonishing untold story of a woman who tried to stop the rise of Fascism and change the course of history. At 11 AM on Wednesday, April 7, 1926, a woman stepped out of the crowd on Rome's Campidoglio Square. Less than a foot in front of her stood Benito Mussolini. As he raised his arm to give the Fascist salute, the woman raised hers and shot him at point-blank range. Mussolini escaped virtually unscathed, cheered on by practically the whole world. Violet Gibson, who expected to be thanked for her action, was arrested, labeled a "crazy Irish spinster" and a "half-mad mystic" and promptly forgotten. Now, in an elegant work of reconstruction, Frances Stonor Saunders combines police files, medical notes, and Gibson's private writings to restore this remarkable figure to the historical record. She examines Gibson's childhood in the privileged milieu of the Protestant Anglo-Irish elite, with its debutante balls and presentations at court; her conversion to Catholicism, an act that cut her adrift from her caste; her engagement with the critical currents of the era -- pacifism, mysticism, feminism, and socialism; her overlooked role in the unfolding drama of Fascism and the cult of Mussolini; and her dramatic response to a new and dangerous age when anything seemed possible and everything was at stake. In a grand tragic narrative, full of suspense and mystery, conspiracy and backroom diplomacy, Stonor Saunders vividly resurrects the life and times of a woman who early on grasped the moral atmosphere of her world and sought to forestall catastrophe, whatever the cost. - Jacket flap

The astonishing untold story of a woman who tried to stop the rise of Fascism and change the course of history

At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 7, 1926, a woman stepped out of the crowd on Rome's Campidoglio Square. Less than a foot in front of her stood Benito Mussolini. As he raised his arm to give the Fascist salute, the woman raised hers and shot him at point-blank range. Mussolini escaped virtually unscathed, cheered on by practically the whole world. Violet Gibson, who expected to be thanked for her action, was arrested, labeled a "crazy Irish spinster" and a "half-mad mystic"—and promptly forgotten.

Now, in an elegant work of reconstruction, Frances Stonor Saunders retrieves this remarkable figure from the lost historical record. She examines Gibson's aristocratic childhood in the Dublin elite, with its debutante balls and presentations at court; her engagement with the critical ideas of the era—pacifism, mysticism, and socialism; her completely overlooked role in the unfolding drama of Fascism and the cult of Mussolini; and her response to a new and dangerous age when anything seemed possible but everything was at stake.

In a grand tragic narrative, full of suspense and mystery, conspiracy and backroom diplomacy, Stonor Saunders vividly resurrects the life and times of a woman who sought to forestall catastrophe, whatever the cost.

This book is the astonishing untold story of a woman who tried to stop the rise of Fascism and change the course of history. At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 7, 1926, a woman stepped out of the crowd on Rome’s Campidoglio Square. Less than a foot in front of her stood Benito Mussolini. As he raised his arm to give the Fascist salute, the woman raised hers and shot him at point-blank range. Mussolini escaped virtually unscathed, cheered on by practically the whole world. Violet Gibson, who expected to be thanked for her action, was arrested, labeled a “crazy Irish spinster” and a “half-mad mystic”—and promptly forgotten. Now, in an elegant work of reconstruction, Frances Stonor Saunders retrieves this remarkable figure from the lost historical record. She examines Gibson’s aristocratic childhood in the Dublin elite, with its debutante balls and presentations at court; her engagement with the critical ideas of the era—pacifism, mysticism, and socialism; her completely overlooked role in the unfolding drama of Fascism and the cult of Mussolini; and her response to a new and dangerous age when anything seemed possible but everything was at stake. In a grand tragic narrative, full of suspense and mystery, conspiracy and backroom diplomacy, Stonor Saunders vividly resurrects the life and times of a woman who sought to forestall catastrophe, whatever the cost. - Publisher. Prologue : Now Wednesday, 7 April 1926 Part one : Revelation. Then Open, O ye heavenly gates The problem of being The new mystics La femme qui cherche L'homme qui cherche Hoc est corpus meum Holy war Il miglior fabbro Things snap Part two : Acts. Theater of madness Martyrs Gethsemane What God wants Providential escape Questions Secrets The new Augustus Hidden hands Lives of the saints Mea culpa Examination Stigmata Heretics Lockdown Special justice Lucid insanity Exodus Part three : Lamentations. Mansion of despair The absence of God Buried alive Cometh the hour By the heels at Milano Casting off Death in exile Epilogue Delivers the untold story of the Irish woman who tried to kill Mussolini and stop the rise of Fascism, in an account that looks at the woman's aristocratic childhood and her engagement with the critical ideas of her era, including pacifism, mysticism, and socialism.