Alessandro Orsini is one of Italy's premier analysts of political extremism. His investigation of the beliefs and mind-sets of Europe's political fringe has largely focused on anarchist and far-left groups, but in Sacrifice he turns his inquiry to the rapidly expanding neofascist movement. He joined local groups of a neofascist organization he names Sacrifice in two neighboring cities with very different political cultures. In this gripping, "insider" book, which features dialogues with various militia members, Orsini shows how fascists live day to day, how they understand their world, and how they build a parallel universe in which the correctness and probity of their attitudes are clear.

Orsini describes the long, troubled process by which these two groups slowly accepted him as an investigatoractivist and later expelled him for his ideologically uncommitted stance and refusal to subject his observations to censorship. His activities as a fascist were often mundane: leafleting, distributing food parcels to the indigent, and attending public rallies. In Sacrifice, Orsini describes from within the masculine ethos of the militias, the groups' relations with local police and politicians, and the central role of violence and anticommunist actions in building a sense of fascist community.

Alessandro Orsini is Director of the Observatory on International Security at LUISS University of Rome, Department of Political Science, and Research Affiliate at the Center for International Studies of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of Anatomy of the Red Brigades, also from Cornell. Sarah Jane Nodes is a translator who lives in Rome.

For those interested in how individuals actually live day-to-day according to Fascist ideology, Sacrifice is an important contribution. It will be especially appealing to scholars of contemporary far-right social movements who want to move beyond more abstract scholarly treatments of the subject and hear from the Fascists themselves. Throughout the book Orsini weaves together the voices of militants with his analysis of their beliefs and actions.

a rattling good (and well translated) yarn as Orsini relates the derring-do of the cells' leading members.... In a short book, the author finds time to reveal his father's cancer, his mother's appalled reaction to his research project and his various female partners' responses to his dealings with the Fascists. He also reflects on how and why he organised his research, with the disarming admission that, in following up his lengthier account of the leftist Red Brigades, he searched for 'an interesting idea that would allow me to call into question conventional thinking about particular political phenomena'.

At the end, Orsini writes that part of his motivation for the book came from when he was young and witnessed a childhood friend grow disaffected. After failing exams and feeling adrift, the friend went from an easygoing joker to a Fascist group member. Orsini concludes that, for himself, 'The most effective way to fight violence is to get to know it.'