EMILIO GENTILE is a contemporary historian of international reputation and a leading scholar of Fascism, totalitarianism, and political religions. He is the author of twelve books, and his major works and articles have been translated into English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese. He is co-editor of Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions and is on the editorial boards of The Journal of Contemporary History and Modernism/Modernity. He currently teaches in the Department of Political Studies at the University of Rome.