Roberta Pergher transforms our understanding of Fascist rule. Examining Fascist Italy's efforts to control the antipodes of its realm - the regions annexed in northern Italy after the First World War, and Italy's North African colonies - she shows how the regime struggled to imagine and implement Italian sovereignty over alien territories and peoples. Contrary to the claims of existing scholarship, Fascist settlement policy in these regions was not designed to solve an overpopulation problem, but to bolster Italian claims to rule in an era that prized self-determination and no longer saw imperial claims as self-evident. Professor Pergher explores the character and impact of Fascist settlement policy and the degree to which ordinary Italians participated in and challenged the regime's efforts to Italianize contested territory. Employing models and concepts from the historiography of empire, she shows how Fascist Italy rethought the boundaries between national and imperial rule. 'The post-WWI Paris Treaties established a framework for the exploration of both minority rights and colonial emancipation. How Italy’s Fascist administration interacted with these notions in its borderlands - the recently acquired South Tyrol (Alto Adige) and Trentino, as well as the ongoing conflict in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (later Libya) - is the subject of this study, whose conclusions significantly contribute to discussions of nation, empire, assimilation, racism, and citizenship. Recommended.' R. T. Ingoglia, Choice 'Pergher’s book presents a convincing argument for the innovative nature of Fascist settlement policy and constitutes a valuable contribution to the growing scholarly interest in daily life under the Fascist regime. Pergher skilfully demonstrates the negotiation between the expectations of settlers and administrators, and presents a nuanced and complex analysis of Fascism’s policies on the borderlands.' Paul Baxa, European History Quarterly 'The book is one of the best books on Italian Fascism published in recent decades, and its impact will certainly be felt far beyond the study of modern Italy.' Michael Ebner, The Journal of Modern History '… the book is a valuable addition to the study of Italian Fascism.' New York Military Affairs Symposium Review ‘While of undeniable significance for scholars of modern Italy, Mussolini’s Nation-Empire also makes a critical contribution to ongoing rethinking of sovereignty in fields such as political science, philosophy, and anthropology, as well as history.’ Pamela Ballinger, Modern Italy ‘… this work undoubtedly breaks important new ground in the rich and emerging field of Italian colonial and postcolonial studies.’ Neelam Srivastava, The American Historical Review ‘… a valuable addition to the study of Italian Fascism.’ A. A. Nofi, The NYMAS Review The first exploration of how Mussolini employed population settlement inside the nation and across the empire to strengthen Italian sovereignty. Roberta Pergher is Assistant Professor of History at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she teaches classes on modern Europe, the history of Empires, the First World War, and Nazi Germany. She has published widely on Italian Fascism, imperial formations, and population settlement. Previously, she taught at the University of Kansas and was a fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.