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The Pike: Gabriele d’Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War book cover
Award-Winning Biography

The Pike: Gabriele d’Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War

by Lucy Hughes-Hallett

Audiobook Narrated by Karoline Newman 23 hrs and 53 mins

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Gabriele d'Annunzio was one of the most extraordinary figures of the twentieth century—a decadent poet, pioneering aviator, compulsive womaniser, and self-styled superman who became Mussolini's mentor. This masterful biography traces the life of a man who defied easy categorisation, from his scandalous literary celebrity to his audacious military exploits during the First World War.

Lucy Hughes-Hallett brings vivid life to d'Annunzio's astonishing story, including his notorious seizure of the city of Fiume in 1919, where he established his own utopian state. Winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize, this is an engrossing portrait of charisma, ambition, and the dangerous allure of fascism—essential reading for anyone interested in how one flamboyant individual helped shape the darkest chapter of European history.