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The Mediterranean Incarnate: Region Formation Between Sicily and Tunisia Since World War II, by Naor Ben-Yehoyada, Chicago and London, The University of Chicago Press, 2017, xiii + 270 pp., $32.50 (paperback), ISBN 9780226451022

Italian architects worked in such close cooperation with the state. The predominantly modernist style of the buildings leads to the question of how far these architects were simply pursuing a modern agenda and how far they were advancing the cause of Fascism. What is certain is that the government made the most of new materials that were available for the construction of buildings. The title of the volume (which is to be understood as an ironical counterpoint to Gentile’s Fascismo di pietra, 2007) refers explicitly to the widespread use of a man-made composite product first developed in the nineteenth century which consisted mainly of cement. With steel girders providing the basic structure of buildings, concrete walls could be erected quickly for relatively limited cost. In keeping with the regime’s liking for symbols and slogans, many edifices were adorned with fasci, statues and other political ornamentation. Sturani adds where possible information about what happened to the buildings in the war and the postwar period. Many had symbols removed and were reconfigured for alternative uses, but in other instances residual traces of the regime survived. The question remains as to why so many of these buildings were portrayed on postcards. To look at a large number of them is to be struck by the difficulty of making new buildings look interesting. As Sturani notes, concrete was unavoidably banal. The images seem almost like British postcards of the 1960s which depicted motorway service stations and shopping centres. Like the latter, Fascist edifices were a source of local pride, especially perhaps in smaller towns and villages, and were symbols of modernity. They were also in most cases created to meet real new demands and had very extensive use. The production of these postcards attests to the desire of printers to exploit any possible subject and to meet local demand but also, Sturani argues, because of the declining market for picturesque postcards. This fascinating volume bridges visual and material culture. It represents a valuable contribution to the fast-expanding interest within the study of Fascism in architectural and heritage studies.