Alessandra Tarquini, an expert on Italian Fascism, untangles the complicated relationship between the Italian left and Jews since the late nineteenth century. Due largely to indifference, and sometimes to antisemitism, Italian leftists consistently overlooked Jews in their visions for a collectivist future. Yet, from the birth of the Socialist Party in 1892 until 1992, when the heirs of the Marxist tradition dispersed or set out on a new path, questions continually arose in revolutionary efforts to remake the Italian state: Should Jews be seen as oppressed, and therefore welcome to participate in the struggle that would lead to the advent of a new civilization? Or might they hinder the realization of socialism because of their attachment to a religious identity? 

Tarquini’s research fills an important lacuna by analyzing the antisemitism of twentieth-century socialist movements. Crucially, however, Tarquini makes important distinctions between antisemitism on the Italian left and right, and identifies the relationship between leftism and antisemitism as a distinct formation.

Alessandra Tarquini is an associate professor of contemporary history at Sapienza University in Rome. She is the author of A History of Italian Fascist Culture, 1922–1943.

Max Matukhin is a researcher in medieval literature at Università degli studi di Bergamo.

Introduction
Prologue: The European Socialists and the Jewish Question, 1791–1892
1. The Origins of the Issue: Socialists and Jews in Liberal Italy
2. The Inadequacy of the Left: Socialists and Zionism After World War I
3. A Precarious Friendship: The Parties of the Left in New International Contexts
4. Discovering Jews: A New Sensibility from Genoa to the Center Left
5. The Crisis: Relations Between the Italian Left and Jews
6. Great Hopes: The Left and the Situation in the Middle East
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index